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AssigneeAlliedSignal Inc.
InventorsRonald P. Rohrbach, Daniel E. Bause, Gordon W. Jones, Peter D. Unger
Estimating the term…
Modification, neutralization and/or decontamination of airborne biological and/or chemical contaminants from a breathable atmosphere by subjecting the breathable atmosphere to a filter which is formed from a plurality of polymeric multilobal fibers. These fibers include a central core with T-shaped lobes projecting therefrom, wherein each T-shaped lobe has a leg and a cap. The lobes define a longitudinally extending internal cavity between two adjacent legs that extends the entire length of the fiber. The filter is impregnated with a biological and/or chemical decontamination reagent for chemically modifying, neutralizing and/or decontaminating airborne biological and/or chemical contaminants from a breathable atmosphere. A filter projection preferably extends into an external reservoir containing a supply of biological and/or chemical decontamination reagent. This configuration increases the capacity and efficiency of the filter, and causes a lower pressure differential across the filter.
An apparatus for chemically modifying, neutralizing and/or decontaminating chemical and/or biological contaminants from a breathable atmosphere, said apparatus comprising a filter which comprises a plurality of polymeric multilobal fibers, said fibers comprising a central core having a plurality of T-shaped lobes projecting therefrom, each of said T-shaped lobes having a leg and a cap, said lobes defining a longitudinally extending internal cavity between two adjacent legs that extends the entire length of the fiber;
A self-regenerating filter system which comprises:
A process for chemically modifying, neutralizing and/or decontaminating chemical and/or biological contaminants from a breathable atmosphere, comprising the steps of:
A process for chemically modifying, neutralizing and/or decontaminating chemical and/or biological contaminants from a breathable atmosphere, comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Backward citations are indexed for grants only.
Biological processes: with gas-solid contact
Chemical or biological purification of waste gases: removing components of undefined structure
General processes for purification of waste gases; Apparatus or devices specially adapted therefor: solid phase processes
Filters for breathing-protection purposes: for respirators
Term end not estimated
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the decontamination of chemical and biological warfare agents. The invention also relates to a process for removing chemical and/or biological contaminants from a breathable atmosphere. More particularly, the invention relates to a continuously self-regenerating filter system for removing chemical and/or biological contaminants from a breathable atmosphere.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a non-woven arrangement of a plurality of multilobal fibers.
FIG. 2 shows a non-woven arrangement of a plurality of multilobal fibers having biological and/or chemical decontamination reagent powder particles infused inside the cavities between adjacent T-shaped lobes.
FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a multilobal fiber having three T-shaped lobes with curved caps.
The invention relates to a technique for removing airborne biological and/or chemical contaminants from a breathable atmosphere. According to the invention, a plurality of polymeric multilobal fibers are provided. The fibers of this invention preferably comprise trilobal fibers. Such fibers are shown in FIGS. 1-3. FIG. 3 shows a trilobal fiber 20, also known as a “triad”, having three T-shaped lobes projecting from a central fiber core 30. Multilobal fibers having this structure are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,057,368 and 5,744,236 which are incorporated herein by reference. As seen in FIG. 3, each of the T-shaped lobes comprises a leg 26 and a cap 28. These caps 28 may be curved, as seen in FIG. 3, or they may be straight. Other known multilobal fibers are quadrilobal, hexalobal, pentalobal, tetralobal, and octalobal filament fibers, and are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,970 which is incorporated herein by reference. However, these are less preferred for the purposes of this invention because they limit the amount of space available for infusion of biological and/or chemical decontamination reagent powder particles that are incorporated as part of the invention.
Between two adjacent lobes is formed a cavity 22 and extending from each cavity 22 is a long longitudinal opening 24 that extends along the entire length of the fiber 20. The angle of separation between adjacent legs 26 may vary widely and depends on the number of lobes. Preferably, the legs 26 are separated from each other by an angle of from about 80° to about 130°. In the three lobed embodiment of FIG. 3, the angle of separation of legs 26 is from about 110° to about 130°, more preferably from about 115° to about 125°, and most preferably by about 120°.
The length and width of the legs 26 and caps 28 of the T-shaped lobes may vary widely. In general, the length of each leg 26 is selected such that the caps 28 of adjacent T-shaped lobes do not contact each other to form an enclosed tube like structure. Otherwise, only a minimal amount of the decontamination agent would make it into the cavities 22. Usually, the length of each leg 26 is from about 4.5 to about 890 μm and the width of leg 26 is from about 0.5 to about 90 μm. In the preferred embodiments of the invention, the average length of each leg 26 is from about 4.5 to about 100 μm, more preferably from about 4.5 to about 50 μm, and most preferably from about 4.5 to about 25 μm. Preferably the average width of each leg 26 is from about 0.5 to about 80 μm, more preferably from about 0.5 to about 60 μm, and most preferably from about 0.7 to about 40 μm. The length of cap 28 is preferably from about 4.5 μm to about 1600 μm. More preferably, the length of each cap 28 is from about 4.5 μm to about 120 μm, and even more preferably from about 4.5 μm to about 75 μm. The width of each cap 28 is preferably from about 0.5 μm to about 90 μm, more preferably from about 0.5 μm to about 80 μm, and even more preferably the width is from about 0.5 μm to about 60 μm. In the most preferred embodiment of the invention, the length of each cap 28 is from about 4.5 μm to about 50 μm and the width of each cap 28 is from about 0.7 μm to about 40 μm.