Air cleaning apparatus and method
OwnerMorton J. Scottinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed is an air cleaning apparatus having a rectangular enclosure with air inlet and outlet passages and internal lower and upper baffles which sequentially direct inlet air through lower and upper water curtains which are provided by a recirculating water system. The apparatus also has a separate scrubbing water system to wash the internal surfaces of the apparatus. In operation, the scrubbing system is periodically activated and the reservoir of the recirculating water system is periodically drained and refilled with fresh water. Also disclosed is the method of using the apparatus.
Claims10
An apparatus for ventilating and cleaning air having smoke, grease and the like as contaminants therein, comprising:
- a housing having side walls, an air inlet opening and an air exhaust opening;
- an air inlet duct communicating with said air inlet opening and having an end portion extending a substantial distance into said housing;
- means for moving air through said housing:
- first and second lower grids positioned in the interior of said housing;
- a lower baffle for directing air through said lower grids having a generally inverted V-shaped cross-section with downwardly extending side flanges, said lower baffle being located in opposition to said end portion of said inlet duct and each of said side flanges being spaced from said inlet duct and supporting one of said first and second lower grids;
- first and second upper grids supported in the interior of said housing at a location generally higher than said first and second lower grids;
- first and second upper baffles for respectively directing air through said first and second upper grids, each of said first and second upper baffles having a V-shaped cross-section and being attached to opposite side walls of said housing, the apex of each said first and second upper baffles being inwardly directed and supporting one of said first and second upper grids respectively;
- means for providing a homogeneous sheet of water on each of said first and second upper grids and said first and second lower grids;
- and
- each of said first and second upper grids and said first and second lower grids comprising a foraminous sheet member located generally transverse to the flow of air directed therethrough and having means associated with each perimeter edge portion thereof for preventing flow of air around said sheet member.
A method of removing contaminates and other foreign matter from air by passing said air through a housing and cleaning said housing, said method comprising the steps of cyclically:
- (A) providing a sheet of water interior of said housing, said sheet of water being drawn from a reservoir located in the bottom portion of said housing, and said sheet of water flowing downwardly to sequentially form a first water curtain and a second water curtain spaced therefrom, said second water curtain flowing into said reservoir;
- and passing air sequentially through said second water curtain and said first water curtain;
- (B) discontinuing step (A), draining water from said reservoir and cleaning the interior surfaces within said housing by spraying hot water thereagainst, said hot water flowing downwardly into said reservoir and being continuously drained therefrom;
- and
- (C) discontinuing step (B) and filling said reservoir with water.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.