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US 2012/0058006 A1Published application
Enhanced photo-catalytic cells
AssigneePuradigm, LLC
InventorDAVID TUPMAN
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A photo-catalytic cell may produce bactericidal molecules in air by passing air across catalyst coated targets. Ultraviolet (UV) energy may be emitted from a source. A first portion of the UV energy from the source may be applied directly onto the targets. A second portion of the UV energy from the source may be reflected onto the targets.
Claims30
1-10. (canceled)
An apparatus for ionizing air, the apparatus comprising:
- a first target including:
- an inner face arranged to receive ultra-violet (“UV”) energy from a UV emitter,
- an outer face,
- a plurality of passages between the inner face and the outer face, and
- a photo-catalytic coating on the plurality of passages;
- a first reflector configured to reflect UV energy from the UV emitter towards the photo-catalytic coating of the first target, wherein the first reflector is a specular UV reflector;
- and
- wherein the first target is configured to:
- receive, through the inner face and at the photo-catalytic coating, UV energy from the UV emitter and the first reflector,
- generate ions in response to the received UV energy,
- pass an airflow from the inner face and through the plurality of passages to carry the ions away from the outer face.
8 more elements
An apparatus for ionizing air, the apparatus comprising:
- a chamber including:
- a first target comprising:
- a plurality of passages between an interior area of the chamber and an exterior area, and
- a photo-catalytic coating on the plurality of passages;
- a first reflector configured to reflect UV energy from a UV emitter towards the photo-catalytic coating of the first target, wherein the first reflector is a specular UV reflector;
- and
- wherein the photo-catalytic coating is arranged to receive UV energy directly from the UV emitter and UV energy reflected from the first reflector.
4 more elements
A method for ionizing air, the method comprising:
- emitting, by an ultra-violet (“UV”) emitter, UV energy towards a first reflector and a first target;
- reflecting, by a first reflector, UV energy towards the first target, wherein the first reflector is a specular UV reflector;
- receiving, at a plurality of passages through the first target, UV energy directly from the UV emitter and UV energy reflected from the first reflector;
- responsively generating ions at a photo-catalytic coating on the plurality of passages of the first target;
- and
- passing an airflow through the plurality of passages of the first target to carry the ions away from the first target.
3 more elements
An apparatus for ionizing air, the apparatus comprising:
- a first reflector configured to reflect ultra-violet (“UV”) energy from a UV emitter, wherein the first reflector is a specular UV reflector;
- and
- a plurality of passages having a photo-catalytic coating, wherein the plurality of passages is arranged to:
- receive direct UV energy directly from the UV emitter,
- receive specularly reflected UV energy reflected from the first reflector,
- generate a first number of ions at the photo-catalytic coating in response to receiving the specularly reflected UV energy, and
- generating a second number of ions at the photo-catalytic coating in response to receiving the direct UV energy,
- wherein the first number of ions is greater than the second number of ions.
5 more elements
An apparatus for ionizing air, the apparatus comprising:
- a first reflector configured to reflect ultra-violet (“UV”) energy from a UV emitter, wherein the first reflector is a specular UV reflector;
- and
- a first target having a photo-catalytic coating arranged to:
- receive direct UV energy directly from the UV emitter,
- receive specularly reflected UV energy reflected from the first reflector,
- responsively generate ions in response to the direct UV energy and the specularly reflected UV energy, and
- emit the ions into an airflow directed to deliver the ions into an external environment.
4 more elements
An apparatus for ionizing air, the apparatus comprising:
- a first reflector configured to reflect ultra-violet (“UV”) energy from a UV emitter, wherein the first reflector is a specular UV reflector;
- and
- a first target having a photo-catalytic coating arranged to:
- receive direct UV energy directly from the UV emitter at a first range of incident angles, and
- receive specularly reflected UV energy from the first reflector at a second range of incident angles,
- wherein the second range of incident angles is larger than the first range of incident angles.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.