Auxiliary device intended for adding to an air conditioning device

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Netherlands © 2000274 © C PATENT²⁰ © Application number: 2000274 © Submitted: 12.10.2006

Int.CI .:

F24F3 / 16 (2006.01) A61L9 / 20 (2006.01)

<td>© Priority:</td><td>© Patent holder (s):</td>

<td>12.10.2005 NL 1030174</td><td>Hermannus Gerhardus Maria Silderhuis in</td>

<td></td><td>Enschede.</td>

<td>© Registered:</td><td></td>

<td> 13.04.2007</td><td>© Inventor (s):</td>

<td></td><td>Hermannus Gerhardus Maria Silderhuis in</td>

<td>© Granted:</td><td>Enschede.</td>

<td> 03.06.2009</td><td></td>

<td></td><td>© Authorized representative:</td>

<td>© Published:</td><td>Ir. BHJ Schumann at 7621 EB Borne.</td>

<td> 03.08.2009</td><td></td>

(54) Auxiliary device, intended to be added to an air treatment device.

An auxiliary device is intended and arranged to be received in an air conduit forming part of an air treatment device, to which first flow means, such as a fan, are connected to produce a main air flow through the air conduit, so that the entire main air flow flows through the auxiliary device.

The auxiliary device has an arrangement of a number of air treatment modules, each of which, in an active state of the relevant air treatment module, allows a partial flow of the air flow to pass through and the whole of the main flow to pass together.

Control means adjust each of the air treatment modules between an active state in which the respective partial flow is let through and a passive state in which the partial flow is substantially zero or flows in the opposite direction.

C 2000274

This patent has been granted regardless of the enclosed result of the prior art research and written opinion. The patent corresponds to the documents originally filed.

_l Netherlands Patent Office is an agency of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Sch / svk / Silderhuis-2p

AUXILIARY DEVICE INTENDED TO BE ADDED TO AN AIR-TREATMENT DEVICE

The invention relates to an auxiliary device, intended and arranged to be received in such an air line, extending between a first air supply and a first air discharge, of an air treatment device, for instance an air freshening system, an air filter system, an air cleaning system, or the like, comprising a supply part and a discharge part, to which air line first flow means are connected to cause a main air flow through the air line to flow the entire main air flow through the auxiliary device.

Such an auxiliary device is known, for example, in the form of a filter device, a drying device, a humidifying device, a cooling device, a heating device, or the like, which is added to an air treatment device in the said manner.

The auxiliary device according to the invention comprises: an arrangement of a number of air treatment modules, each of which, in an active state of the relevant air treatment module, transmits a partial flow of the air flow and collectively transmits the entire main flow; and control means for individually adjusting each of the air treatment modules between an active state in which the respective partial flow is transmitted and a passive state in which the partial flow is substantially zero or flows in the opposite direction.

The auxiliary device, including the air handling modules, has a modular design. The device can hereby easily be adapted to circumstances and time-varying requirements. For example, the number of installed or active air handling modules can be selected as desired, either during the design phase or also after installation and during operation. Thus, the modules can be individually controlled by a central control unit. For example, in the case of a module serving heating or cooling, the control can take place in such a way that the flow rate, that is to say the amount of air passing per unit of time, meets the requirements set, taking into account the requirements regarding the exhaust air. temperature or the difference between the air inlet temperature and the air outlet temperature. It should be clear that this is only an example.

Particularly in the case where the air treatment modules are identical, the modular construction has the advantage that, by relatively simple operations, a defective or otherwise maintainable air treatment module can be removed and replaced by another module. The technical interventions required for this are very limited due to the modular construction.

The invention can be described abstractly as follows.

Physical processes are generally unstable around an optimum. This means that a designer must take into account a certain safety factor in order not to go beyond the optimal process window.

The invention solves this problem by initially determining an optimal process and then simply multiplying some of these processes in module implementations until the desired capacity is reached.

In other words; the modularity described is adding or removing equal, optimal process modules to realize the total process capacity.

This is an improvement over the prior art, because only another operating point is set in an existing process window to achieve the new capacity.

Since a process window usually only has one optimum, another operating point automatically means a deterioration of the process.

According to the invention, each active process always remains within its optimum operating range.

It is also of great importance that the manufacturer of auxiliary devices of the type according to the invention need only have a limited number of different types of air treatment modules in stock or be able to supply them. It is also possible to respond very quickly and flexibly to the wishes of users. The various requirements imposed on the capacity of an air treatment device can be taken into account by adapting the housing to the requirements set for that purpose, in particular with regard to the effective passage area, and in connection with this the number of select the desired number of modules with the specified requirements.

The auxiliary device can be designed to perform a variety of functions, such as filtering air, cleaning air, drying or humidifying air, cooling or heating air, disinfecting and sterilizing air, and so on.

In yet another embodiment, the auxiliary device has the special feature that each air handling module comprises: a second housing with a third air supply and a third air discharge; and a UV treatment chamber incorporated in that house, through which the entire partial flow flows, in which UV treatment chamber a UV radiation source is included for exposing the partial flow to UV radiation for killing microorganisms present in that partial flow.

As the air velocity in the UV treatment chamber changes, the residence time of a micro-organism exposed by UV radiation also changes. A stable degree of sterilization therefore requires a substantially constant air velocity. This air velocity also influences sterilization on the basis of another physical mechanism at stake in the UV treatment chamber. The air flowing past the UV source also serves to cool that source. It should be understood that, as the air velocity changes, the temperature of the UV source also changes. The intensity of the UV radiation emitted by the source appears to depend on the temperature. At a certain temperature, the UV intensity is maximum; at a lower temperature, the intensity becomes lower and at a higher temperature, the intensity also decreases. It has been shown that for a UVGI lamp, an air velocity of approximately 1.5 m / s (this may be higher when using more lamps) at the temperature of the input air corresponding to room temperature, gives the highest intensity. Assuming that this inlet temperature remains unchanged, a constant air speed is therefore important.

Constant air velocity is also very important for yields from other thermodynamic processes such as cooling, heat exchange, humidification and dehumidification, etc., so as mentioned, (speed) stabilization of these processes by means of the present invention allows a much higher efficiency and thus lower energy consumption. Designers can count on a much smaller safety factor (on the edge design).

Skylights and grids have a fixed cross-section in terms of height times width. When the flow rate of the supplied air changes at a fixed cross-section, the speed through the auxiliary device also changes in direct proportion thereto. The effect on the degree of sterilization is twofold. As described above, this cannot prevent the microorganisms to be exposed to UV radiation from receiving less than the desired radiation dose of UV radiation. The UV source becomes colder or warmer and therefore operates in an area which deviates from its optimum working area, i.e. the working area in which the radiation intensity emitted is maximum.

As mentioned, skylights and grids have an unchanging, fixed cross section. It is therefore not possible to control or regulate the speed of the airflow. The present invention is based on a modular construction, in which the individual air handling modules can be opened or closed or adjusted. Thus, the permeable cross-sectional area can be increased or decreased in steps, in a modular manner, by respectively activating and de-activating the individual air handling modules. The flow rate can be regulated by this modular variable cross-section according to the teachings of the invention. With reference to the previous discussion with regard to the radiation yield of UVGl lamp, it can hereby be established that the residence time, the degree of sterilization achieved, the cooling of the lamp and the yield of radiation are controllable, in contrast to a known device with fixed intersection. By switching off the lamps in (temporarily) unused air treatment modules, the life of the lamps is extended and unnecessary energy consumption is prevented.

The stepwise adjustable passage of the total available flow area on a modular basis ensures excellent process control at varying air flows.

The modular adjustability has a number of additional advantages. For example, the control software of the auxiliary device can be designed such that the effective flow-through area of ​​the available cross-sectional area is also adjusted in case of changes in the temperature of the incoming air and / or its relative humidity. With such a software, the critical sterilization process can always run under optimal conditions on a continuous basis. Fluctuations in the flow rate of the supplied air, the temperature of the supplied air and the relative humidity of that air do not have a noticeable influence on the degree of sterilization with this software, which after all determines the quality of the device according to the invention with a UV treatment chamber . By switching off unused lamps, the effective life of the lamps is extended, after all, switching off lamps can take place under software control in such a way that different lamps are switched off. In addition to a long service life of the lamps, this also achieves a high energy efficiency.

In an important embodiment, the auxiliary device according to the invention has the special feature that in each air treatment module a valve that can be controlled by the control means between an open and a closed position is included. The valve can be of any suitable type. Operation can be electric, hydraulic, mechanical or pneumatic. In the case where the control means comprise a central processor controlling the various modules of the program control and under control by means of user-operable operating means, the valves must all be electrically controllable. In such an embodiment, for example, manual control is not a first option.

The modular structure may furthermore have the advantage in connection with the said valves that, for example, the flow rate through each active module always has a predetermined value and that the main air flow, i.e. the sum of the partial air flows through the active modules, is therefore directly proportional with the number of active modules.

The auxiliary device may also have the special feature that each air treatment module contains second flow means controlled by the control means for adjusting the partial flow to a desired value, whether positive, zero or negative.

These second flow means can for instance be designed as a fan. Connection of modules to external sources for air under a certain overpressure can also be used.

In larger clusters, a sudden increase in air supply to the modules can result in more air passing through the center module and less through the outer one. In the case of modules where too much air flows through, a valve will have to throttle to reduce the amount of air flowing through and thus increase the amount of air flowing through the other modules.

The killing of microorganisms in an air stream by means of irradiation with ultraviolet radiation is known per se, inter alia from applicant's international patent application WO-A-2005/039659, and further from US-A-2004/0047776, WO-A- 02/078754,

GB-A-1 382 820, EP-A-1 239 232, EP-A-0 550 366,

DE-A-102 09 994, NL-A-73 07984, EP-A-0 915 713,

WO-A-03/078571 and GB-A-2 377 660.

The air in which we live contains bacteria, viruses and other micro-organisms that, under certain circumstances, can cause disease to humans or animals. In a hospital environment, this risk of contamination is considerable, because it involves the combination of relatively many pathogenic micro-organisms in the air, the possible presence of patients with an infectious disease and the presence of weakened patients, who are particularly susceptible to infection. Even in the relatively closed buildings in which people work today, pathogenic organisms can easily spread via air treatment systems. In addition, the disinfection of air is important under non-permanent conditions that may arise after, for example, the outbreak of an infectious disease caused by viruses or after the use of biological weapons. In these situations it is desired to provide temporary command centers, emergency hospitals and other important accommodation areas with disinfected air, if necessary from movable air treatment systems.

Sterilizing a forced airflow using short wavelength ultraviolet rays UV (C), i.e. radiation with a wavelength in the range 100-280 nm, is known per se. Usually, freestanding or wall or ceiling mounted devices are used for this purpose, which circulate the air in a room and whose protective effect is limited to that room. US-A-5 330 722 and US-A-5 612 001 disclose such one-room germicidal air purifiers. Developments on these freestanding devices have focused on greater effectiveness in killing microorganisms at the highest air yield possible. By using filters with a low air resistance upstream of the UV treatment chamber, the choice of highly reflective inner walls in the UV treatment chamber and the creation of a turbulent air flow along the UV lamps, considerably improved performance has been achieved. In this connection reference is made to WO-A-2005/039659 in the name of the present applicant.

Air treatment units circulate, refresh, dry, humidify, heat and / or cool the air in buildings. Through a network of air ducts and air distribution systems, the air is transported to and from the various rooms in the building, whereby microorganisms can effectively move through the building and easily settle in the air ducts.

A widely used technique for eliminating micro-organisms in air treatment systems is the installation of different types of air filters. Dust particles that often contain micro-organisms are retained by these filters, but smaller micro-organisms are allowed to pass through the filters. The killing of the smaller microorganisms using UV (C) radiation has also found application in the air treatment systems. Initially, the UV lamps were simply inserted perpendicular to the direction of flow in the air duct, whereby breakage at the location of the lamp fitting could easily occur due to bending.

Placing a group of lamps in the longitudinal direction of the air duct can improve the effectiveness of the lamps. According to WO-A-92/20974, the lamps placed longitudinally of the channel are enclosed by helical slate strips, which bring the air in a helical flow around the lamps, thereby extending the distance traveled and the exposure time.

A pierced and curved plate has also been placed upstream of the UV lamps with the aim of achieving a more even distribution of the airflow over the cross-section of the channel and thus limiting zones with less effective radiation or even blind spots. In order to improve the effectiveness of the radiation, US-A-2002/0088945 describes a UV treatment chamber in the form of an ellipsoid that fits tightly into the air duct. The UV lamp has the shape of a helix, the axis of which coincides with the axis of the ellipsoid.

Although significant periods can occur without or with little activity of an air treatment system in 24 hours, in most installations the UV lamps remain switched on continuously. If the lamps are switched on together with, for example, switching on a fan that is part of the air heating, the frequency switching on and off of the lamps can have a greater negative effect on the service life of the lamps than leaving them on continuously. In WO-A-03/045451, an effective lifespan extension of the UV lamps is claimed, because the lamps are only switched off after a longer period (40 minutes) of inactivity of the air treatment system.

In the design of air treatment systems for buildings with spaces in which patients can be insulated, the pressure difference between these spaces and the environment is of great importance. A distinction must be made between overpressure and underpressure spaces. Overpressure protects a patient in, for example, operating theaters from environmental contamination. Negative pressure protects the environment against contamination with, for example, a virus that can be spread by a patient.

The ability to isolate and decontaminate patients is also important under non-permanent conditions, for example after the outbreak of an infectious disease caused by viruses or after the use of biological weapons. In these situations it is desired to provide temporary command centers, emergency hospitals and other important accommodation areas with disinfected air and to isolate them if necessary. US-A2004 / 047776 and WO-A-2004/011041 describe movable air decontamination devices that can be used in emergencies of the type mentioned.

Free-standing devices for treating the air in one room with UV (C) radiation are much more effective than the UV (C) systems built into the fixed air treatment systems in the name of the present applicant, as described in WO-A-2005/039659. for killing microorganisms. The reason for this lies in the generally large dimensions of the fixed systems and the problem of properly distributing the air flows over the cross-section of the air ducts in these systems.

In addition to the disadvantage of the limited effectiveness, UV lamps in existing air treatment systems still have a long duty cycle, even during periods when the required activity of the system may be small.

The present invention overcomes, in certain embodiments, the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art and adds a number of controls for the flow past the UV lamps thereby achieving wider use of UV (C) systems for killing microorganisms . The applicability will be further increased by the flexible use in overpressure and underpressure situations in the isolation of patients in existing and temporary spaces and in emergencies.

Specific advantages are realized with an embodiment in which the second flow means comprise a fan which is of the type with angular equidistant blades present on a motor-driven rotor, the inner edges of which lie substantially on an imaginary cylinder and the outer edges at least at least lie more on an imaginary truncated cone, which outer edges together with an at least more or less cylindrical envelope form a free space widening in the direction of the flow. The use of such a fan gives the auxiliary device a high degree of flexibility, because the flow rate supplied by the fan is adjustable from zero value to relatively high values ​​under the influence of a control unit, the noise production is certainly very small in relation to the performance, and the differential pressure supplied by the fan is slightly lower than that of a purely axial fan, but still has very acceptable values. Such a fan is per se commercially available from the German company EBM-Pabst, inter alia with type designation R3G133-AF07-14.

In addition to the general advantages of the modular construction already mentioned, the device according to the invention has the following advantages with regard to the treatment of air flowing through with UV radiation.

The auxiliary device is capable of disinfecting air flows in an existing fixed or mobile air treatment device, whereby the micro-organisms present in the air flows can be effectively eliminated.

Despite the wide variety of dimensions of air ducts in existing air treatment devices, the auxiliary device according to the invention can be built into new and existing systems at relatively low investment.

Installation and maintenance can be done easily and at a relatively low cost compared to existing systems. Maintenance is greatly simplified, in particular, by the loss of necessary service hatches before or after installation. A technician has direct access to the modules.

As a result of the modular character and the possibility of optimizing the various parameters in conjunction, the auxiliary device according to the invention can have a high energy efficiency.

The auxiliary device can comprise a control for switching on and switching off the UV lamps. As a result, unlike with existing devices, the effective life of the lamps can be extended considerably. It will be clear that this gives the advantage that the lamps need to be replaced less often. This means cost savings and a longer time between periods of standstill of the relevant module for lamp replacement.

The air flow along the lamps can be regulated in such a way that the lamps are always in operation at an optimum temperature. This temperature determines the intensity of the UV radiation emitted by a lamp and the service life of the lamp. Furthermore, the modularity offers the possibility to switch on the lamps first, so that they warm up before the valve opens. This prevents the first air from being sterilized optimally.

Furthermore, the air velocity, for example by adapted control of a fan or adding the correct number of modules closed at that time, can be adjusted in such a way that the residence time of the air in the UV treatment chamber is increased as the air flowing past is more humid. Such control may be important to ensure that, despite the UV-shielding action of water around microorganisms, these microorganisms can nevertheless be effectively eliminated.

The device is furthermore readily applicable under the aforementioned overpressure and underpressure conditions. This aspect may be important, for example, in areas where patients must be temporarily isolated.

The auxiliary device according to the invention lends itself perfectly to be installed in both fixed and movable air treatment devices.

A UV treatment auxiliary device includes at least one UV lamp contained in a UV treatment chamber. If desired, but not necessary, each air treatment module can be provided with said second flow means, such as a fan. An electrically controllable valve can be used to close a module. After closing this valve and / or energizing the fan in such a way that the air flow through a module is zero or an air flow flows under conditions in opposite directions, the relevant UV source may exist. at least one UV lamp and the fan, if present, of the relevant module are switched off.

In periods of low activity of the air treatment device or with a small instantaneous load with microorganisms, the capacity of the device can be adjusted to these conditions by directing the air flow through only a limited number of active, thus switched on modules.

The average lifespan of the UV lamps in the auxiliary device is extended by activating the air treatment modules with the aid of a processor in a sequence and keeping them activated for a certain period of time, so that the cumulative duty cycle of all UV lamps is always more or less the same.

In the event of a lamp failure, the relevant module is effectively deactivated by closing the existing valve or by rotating the relevant fan in the opposite direction, and the other modules can continue to function normally without a total air flow rate leakage occurs, which is the case with prior art designs.

In a particular embodiment, the auxiliary device according to the invention has no influence on the flow rate in the air line. The fan in the module compensates for the pressure loss due to the module's own air resistance by means of a differential pressure control. This microprocessor-controlled system provides a small pressure increase (1-5 mbar) over the modules so that no leakage of untreated air can occur through the closed valves. Even the air can flow in the opposite direction with low flow.

When used for overpressure spaces, the device is placed as close as possible to the blow-in point to the relevant overpressure space.

When used for underpressure spaces, the device is placed directly downstream of the extraction point of the room in question, and for use in medical rooms, for example, it is also recommended to place an auxiliary device according to the invention in the blow-in channel in order to insulate the isolated and weakened patient protect pathogenic bacteria present in the air.

Use of the auxiliary device in mobile air treatment devices is possible, because the auxiliary device is integrated in a section of a pipe system, which can also easily be added to mobile air treatment devices.

An embodiment of the auxiliary device of the embodiment with a UV treatment module preferably comprises adjusting means for adjusting the UV radiation source such that the intensity of the UV radiation emitted by that source is located in the working area of ​​the source, where that intensity is less than 10%, preferably less than 5%, from the maximum intensity. The operation of the auxiliary device can hereby be optimized.

An important embodiment of the latter principle has the special feature that the adjusting means are adapted to adjust the speed of the air flowing past the source and thus cooling the lamp.

In a specific embodiment, the latter auxiliary device has the special feature that the adjusting means are controlled by temperature measuring means, which measure the difference between the outlet temperature and the inlet temperature of the UV treatment chamber. This determines the energy transfer between lamp and air. When it changes, according to known thermodynamic laws, it means that mainly the air speed has changed (regardless of changes in inlet temperature). This also allows the flow / air velocity by each module to be derived individually. This information is then used by the control system to determine if too many or too few modules are active.

Alternatively, the auxiliary device can be characterized in that the adjusting means are controlled by intensity measuring means which measure the intensity of the UV radiation emitted by the UV radiation source.

According to another aspect of the invention, the auxiliary device has the special feature that at least some of the surfaces irradiated by UV radiation are provided with a PTO (photo catalytic oxidation) coating, for instance consisting of T1O2 (titanium dioxide). This can effectively eliminate unpleasant odors and smoke. When irradiated by ultraviolet radiation, a PCO material has the effect of converting organic materials substantially entirely into CO2 and H2O.

A practical variant of the latter embodiment has the special feature that the device comprises a fan and at least the surfaces of the fan irradiated by UV radiation, including the surfaces of the blades of the fan, are provided with a PTO coating.

According to an important other aspect of the invention, the auxiliary device also comprises at least one separate fan module and at least one separate valve module, in which each air treatment module, each fan module and each valve module can be mutually sealingly coupled in pairs in any desired composition, with all modules having substantially equal flanges include, and flanges placed against each other are releasably coupled to each other by means of a divisible and closable ring, which extends over both flanges in closed position and which holds flanges pressed against one another, such that the modules in all desired numbers and in any desired composition can be modularly interconnected. With such an embodiment, a high degree of modularity is realized, as a result of which, in accordance with the wishes of a user, a basically arbitrary number of modules can be linked together in any desired configuration. An important embodiment in this connection is characterized in that a valve module is placed on both the input side and on the output side of an air treatment module, such that after closing the valves of both valve modules the air treatment module can be removed without the other modules or the entire air supply system must be switched off (safe change).

In a specific embodiment, the auxiliary device has the special feature that the inner wall of the UV treatment chamber is provided with a reflective coating which is located in the region of the UV source and extends further upstream and downstream for a distance which is at least equal to 20% of the length of the UV source in the longitudinal direction of the UV treatment chamber. With this embodiment it is achieved that the efficiency of the UV radiation in the UV treatment chamber increases substantially. This increases the number of microorganisms killed by UV irradiation while passing through the UV treatment chamber.

The latter embodiment preferably has the special feature that the cover layer is diffusely reflective.

The invention also relates to an air treatment device, for instance an air freshening system, an air filter system, an air cleaning system, or the like, comprising: an auxiliary device of the above-described types.

Here is the place to briefly go into the content of some references which, in superficial study, appear to be related to the invention. However, this is only an illusion, as the short analysis below shows.

US-A-2003/0131734 relates to an air purifier designed as a UV source, which comprises on its outside a number of UV lamps with added reflectors. Figure 1 of this American specification shows that on the inlet side (in the direction of the airflow) a convex deflection cap described as parabolic is placed, which has to ensure that the air flowing longitudinally along the air purifier along the UV along its entire length lamps are flowing.

For example, Figure 4 shows how the UV sources can be placed in an air line.

It is important to note that this document does not relate to an auxiliary device as referred to in the present patent application, namely a specific functional unit to be added to an existing air line. The US specification only shows and describes a number of UV sources, which, it appears, must all operate simultaneously and collectively impart such intensity to UV radiation as to render many organisms harmless responsible for disease. building syndrom.

It is further important to note that this US specification does not include air handling modules in the sense of the invention. After all, according to the invention it is essential that the modules each conduct a partial flow of the total air flow. Since there is no separation in the airflow, let alone effective partial flows, in the U.S. specification, the structure of this document does not meet this definition of the present application.

There is no mention of any modularity, which is the essential basis of the present invention, in the US specification.

US-A-6 497 753 relates to an electrostatic air purifier. This cleaner includes a housing with an inlet and an outlet, fan means and a number of electrostatic filter units placed in parallel in the air flow.

Although the American specification is not entirely clear on this, it seems likely that the individual filter tubes are determined by the physical mechanism of the electrostatic filters. Apparently, the inventor of the apparatus according to this US specification did not assume a choice of a modular construction with the specific advantages as pursued by the present invention and as documented above.

US-A-2005/173 352 generally relates to an air cleaning device. It uses a filter, a fan and a UV treatment chamber. Such devices are generally known and discussed in detail above. However, the present invention does not relate to such a device. After all, the modularity essential according to the present invention is completely absent in this specification.

The invention will now be elucidated with reference to the annexed drawings of some arbitrary embodiments. In the drawings show:

figure 1 shows a perspective view of an auxiliary device which is received in an air pipe, which forms part of an air treatment device;

figure 2A shows a longitudinal section through the auxiliary device according to figure 1;

figure 2B to an enlarged scale detail II of figure 2A;

Figure 3A is a cross-section through another auxiliary device, in which the air treatment modules are incorporated in a 3x5 matrix arrangement;

figure 3B shows a cross-section through another embodiment, in which seven modules are accommodated in a round housing;

figure 3C shows an alternative arrangement, in which the outer shape of the modules is partly designed as a regular hexagon, and in which the modules are arranged in three rows of four, three and four modules, respectively;

figure 4 shows a perspective view of an air treatment module, as used in the auxiliary device according to figure 2A;

figure 5A shows a longitudinal section through the air treatment module according to figure 4;

Figure 5B shows the detail V of Figure 5A; figure 6 shows a top view of the air treatment module according to figures 4 and 5, with the end cap omitted;

figure 7A is a perspective view of a modularly connectable air treatment module;

figure 7B shows a side view of the air treatment module according to figure 7A;

figure 7C shows a cut-away perspective view of the air treatment module;

figure 7D is a side view according to figure 7C; figure 8A shows a view corresponding with figure 7A of the air treatment module, which is modularly coupled to a fan module;

figure 8B shows a view corresponding with figure 7B of the modular unit of figure 8A;

figure 8C shows a view corresponding with figure 7C of the modular unit according to figure 8A;

figure 8D a. figure 7D corresponding view of the modular unit according to figure 8A;

figure 9A shows a view corresponding with figure 7A of a modular unit, which is composed of an air treatment module, a fan module and a valve module;

figure 9B shows a view corresponding with figure 7B of the modular unit according to figure 9A;

figure 9C shows a view corresponding with figure 7C of the modular unit according to figure 9A;

figure 9D shows a view corresponding with figure 7D of the modular unit according to figure 9A;

figure 10 shows a divisible ring, a so-called Jacob's clamp; and figure 11 shows an auxiliary device according to the invention, which comprises a number of modular units according to figure 7.

Figure 1 shows an auxiliary device 1, which is included in the manner of a pipe part in an air pipe, which comprises a supply part 2 and a discharge part 3, which air pipe forms part of an air treatment device (not shown). Air flows through the supply part 2, the auxiliary device 1 and the discharge part 3 of the air line. The direction thereof is indicated by arrows 4, 5. The auxiliary device 1 comprises round end flanges 6, 7, by means of which the auxiliary device 1 is connected to the pipe parts 2 and 3, which are provided for this purpose with respective corresponding flanges 8, 9. By means of bolts and nuts 10, the flanges 6, 8 7, 9, respectively, are detachably coupled together. In the manner described above, the auxiliary device 1 can form part of the air line comprising the pipe parts 2, 3 in the manner of a pipe part. This is an important aspect of the invention. After all, the auxiliary device 1 can in this way be added to an existing air treatment device.

The auxiliary device 1 comprises a housing 11 of, for example, sheet material or plastic, and has a generally rectangular cross-section. An entrance funnel 12 and an exit funnel 13 connect to the housing. These funnels 12, 13 adapt the cross-sectional shapes of the pipe sections 2 and 3 to the cross-sectional shape of the block-shaped housing 11.

On the entrance side of the housing 11 there is a flange edge 14, which is sealingly connected by means of bolts and nuts 15 to a flange edge 16, which forms part of the entrance funnel 12.

Figure 2A shows a longitudinal section corresponding to the relatively narrow side of the housing 11. Figure 2A shows that two UV air treatment modules 17, 18 are present at the location of this longitudinal section. Although not shown in the drawing, it should be apparent from Figure 2A and the proportions of the housing 11 of Figure 1 that these UV air treatment modules are arranged in a 2x3 matrix pattern.

The air treatment modules are identical and thus interchangeable. In Figure 5A, an air handling module, in this case denoted by reference numeral 17, is drawn in longitudinal section in accordance with Figure 2A.

Figure 2A is particularly important because this figure makes clear how the air treatment modules 17, 18 and the other four modules are arranged in the housing 11.

In anticipation of that discussion reference is already made to the inlet zones 19, 20 of the module 17, in which valves 21, 22 are incorporated, which can be moved between an open position and a closed position by means to be described below. The valve 21 is open in the position shown in Figure 2A, while the valve 22 is closed. That is why, as indicated by arrows 63, the air flow 4, 5 flows only through the module 17 and not through the module 18.

The presence of a filter unit 23 which purifies the air flowing through from particles larger than the size of the filter pores is further pointed out. A relatively coarse dust filter can be used to capture dust. For smaller particles and certain micro-organisms, a dust filter can be used in combination with a HEPA filter. In this connection reference is again made to international patent application WO-A-2005/039659 in the name of the present applicant, in which such filtering means are described, as well as to the literature mentioned in this specification. The housings 30 of the modules 17, 18 and the remaining four modules must cooperate substantially sealingly with the interior of the housing 11. To this end, this housing 11 comprises on its inner side a sealing profile 24 extending over the entire outer circumference of the houses 30, which, through the intermediary of an elastically compressible sealing ring 25, cooperates sealingly with an circumferentially extending ring seat 26, which forms part of the lower part 27 of the module housing 30, the middle part of which is indicated by 28 and the upper part by 29.

Figure 2A further shows that the exit funnel 13 is integrally formed with the block-shaped housing 11, as is also clearly shown in Figure 1.

The entrance funnel 12 is detachable by means of the bolts and nuts, whereby the interior of the housing 11 is accessible after removing the filter unit 23 for sliding out a module for maintenance and replacing it or replacing it with another one, identical module. As mentioned, the seal 24, 25, ensures

26, which circumferentially extends around each module, that the differential pressure across a module due to the operation of a fan described below cannot lead to false reverse flow outside the modules.

Next, the structure of a module will be further discussed with reference to Figures 5A and 5B.

Figures 3A, 3B and 3C show in cross-section, by way of examples, three other possible patterns in which modules may be arranged.

The modules according to Figure 3A, all of which are designated 31, locally have a rectangular cross-section and are accommodated in a housing 32 in a flat-filling manner. Reference numeral 33 denotes valves, each with a valve shaft 38, corresponding to valves 21 and 22. according to figure 2A.

Figure 3B shows that the modules 34 can have a round outer shape and can be accommodated in a cylindrical housing 35.

Figure 3C shows a regular hexagonal shape of the outside of modules 36, which in this embodiment are housed in a housing 37 with rectangular cross sections. It is noted that the modules 36 could also be used for the pattern of Figure 3B, which has sixfold symmetry.

Figure 4 shows a perspective view of the module 17.

It can clearly be seen that by rotating about the valve axis 38 (see figure 3) the valve 21 comes to a sealing cooperation by rotating from its drawn open position to its closed position (compare the closed valve 22 shown in figure 2) with two semi-circular sealing ring parts 39, 40 (see also figure 5A). An electric actuator 71 rotates a driving wheel 41 under the control of an individual module control unit 42, which, like comparable units of other modules, is connected or can be connected to a central control unit. By means of a lever 43, the valve shaft 28 is rotated in a known manner by means of a second driving wheel 44 or driving arm, while the valve 21 is carried along, whereby it can be moved under the said control between the open and closed position.

Furthermore, as can be clearly seen in Figures 2A and 5A, the module 17 comprises a fan comprising a motor 45 and a rotor 46. This wheel comprises a number of angularly equidistantly placed blades 49, the inner edges 47 of which are substantially on an imaginary cylinder, while the outer edges 48 are at least more or less an imaginary truncated cone, or have a certain curvature relative to that main shape. This structure ensures a good yield in terms of the pressure difference between the input and the output of the module 17, provides little noise production and is able to provide a high flow rate, for example for axial fans, expressed in the amount per unit time. pumped air. A conventional tangential fan is also not capable of this combined performance,

The upper part of the housing 30 has a high degree of diffuse reflection for UV (C) radiation on its inside. To this end, the inner surface of the part 29 can for instance be provided with a covering layer, consisting of sputtered aluminum. In the space enclosed by this reflecting cylindrical wall, the UV25 treatment chamber 50 contains a UV source of two UV lamps 51, 52. Among other things, these lamps emit strong UV (C) radiation with a wavelength of 253.7 nm, which, as is known, has a strong microorganism killing effect. The lamps are of known per se and commonly used type. They are plugged into a plug-in unit 53 and powered from a power supply unit 64 (see Figure 4). This power supply unit is controlled from the module control unit 42. In this way, the lamps can be controlled by the electronic control such that the UV (C) radiation emitted by the lamps has an optimum intensity within certain tolerances. To this end, the motor 45 of the fan 45, 46 is also controlled in such a way that the lamps are operated as much as possible at a temperature at which the intensity of the UV (C) radiation emitted is as great as possible. This temperature is on the order of 40 ° C for most lamps. The temperature partly depends on the speed of the air flowing past. It may preferably have a speed of about 1.5 m / s for certain types of lamps.

This imposes limitations on the possibilities of varying the flow rate of the auxiliary device 1. It is precisely the modular construction that makes it possible to vary the yield of the device within wide limits while retaining the narrow selection of the values ​​of the parameters in question, while retaining optimal limits.

The detail V in Figure 5B shows that the upper part of the housing 30 is covered with a fixation ring 54, which serves to fix the lamps 51, 52. For this purpose, the ring 54 comprises projections 55, 56, which engage the transition zone. 57 between the vertical legs of the lamps 51, 52, while a steel wire clamping spring 58 provides a pressure contact between that zone 57 and the respective projection 55, 56.

Figure 6 further shows that a rectangular carrying edge 59 is arranged on the bottom part 27 of the housing 30. This carries the sealing ring 25. Four through holes 60 are arranged therein for fixing by means of screws to the sealing profile 24.

With regard to the arrangement of the lamps 51, 52, it is noted that, as can be seen particularly clearly in Figure 6, they are rotated at 90 ° to each other. This arrangement ensures the highest possible average intensity of the UV radiation in the UV treatment chamber 50.

With reference to figure 4 reference is made to two diagonally opposite projections 62, each provided with a semicircular recess 61. It is not shown in the figures that when a module 17 is slid into the housing 11 these recesses 61 cooperate rotationally with guide rods present in the housing 11, which ensure correct positioning of the module 17 at its front. At the rear, the correct positioning is provided by the bearing edge 59 with the through holes 60 by means of which the fixation of the module 17 in the housing 11 can be ensured.

Figure 7A shows an air treatment module, which is arranged to sterilize air in a UV treatment chamber, in which an elongated UV lamp is accommodated.

The module 101 includes a tube 104 which has flanges at its ends for modular coupling with other modules and / or connection to it. an air line. For this purpose use is made of a Jacob's clamp, i.e. a divisible ring 109, as will be further elucidated with reference to Figures 8, 9, 10 and 11.

The tube 104 carries a detachable cap 105, in which ballasts 106, 107 and electronic units 108 are accommodated. See figure 7C for this. In this embodiment the ballasts are connected to the UV lamp 119 by means of a cable 110 extending outside the tube 104 and the cap 105, see figure 7D.

The Jacob's clamps are indicated with reference number 109.

Figure 8 shows the modular coupling between an air handling module 101 and a fan module 102.

Figure 8C shows that the fan includes a motor 111 and blades 112.

It is the place to note here that the UV lamp 113 contained in the tube 104 serving as the UV treatment chamber irradiates the inner wall of the tube 104. It is preferably diffusely reflective with a high reflection coefficient. In this embodiment, the entire inner surface of the tube 104 is diffusely reflective. A coating of TiO2 is used. The surfaces of the fan irradiated by UV radiation, including blades 112, are also provided with a TiO2 coating. It is important that the diffusely reflecting layer extends a considerably greater distance than the physical length of the lamp 113. That is why the entire inner surface is provided with such a layer. Due to the relatively great length of the diffusely reflecting layer, the efficiency of the air treatment device, that is to say, rendering harmless microorganisms harmless, is greatly improved.

Figure 9 shows the modular coupling of air handling module 101, a fan module 102 and a valve module 103. As will be particularly apparent from Figure 9D, the valve body is movable between an open position, providing negligible flow resistance and a closed position, in which it completely closes the passage of the valve module 103. The actuation of the valve body 113 is designated by the reference numeral 114.

Figure 10 shows the Jacob clamp 109 on a larger scale. It will be appreciated that it is drilled out as a split ring, the two semicircular parts of which are hinged together 115. At the top there is a known toggle

116, with which the split ring 109 can be closed to couple the modules in the manner shown in Figures 7, 8 and 9 as examples.

Figure 11 finally shows that by means of an inlet manifold 117 and an outlet manifold 118 six air treatment modules 101 are coupled in mutual parallel relationship by means of the Jacob's clamps 109, such that the modules 101 active at any time allow the full airflow 120 to pass.

It is noted that, for the sake of clarity of the drawings, the drawing of power and signal cables with which the electronic units 108 control the fan module 102 and / or the valve module 103 is dispensed with.

Attention is drawn to the fact that the shown and described embodiments all relate to air treatment modules which are adapted to filter air by means of a filter unit and to eliminate micro-organisms flowing through the modules for some time subject to UV (C) radiation with a certain minimum intensity. However, the invention is not limited to such an application. The auxiliary devices according to the invention can also perform functions other than those mentioned. Such functions are listed in the above specification.

Furthermore, attention is drawn to the fact that more than one auxiliary device according to the invention can be accommodated in one air line. For example, two functionally equivalent auxiliary devices together can cause a target value of a quantity to be below and above a set threshold value, respectively. Different auxiliary devices can also have different functions, for example filtering and drying, cooling and disinfection, etc.

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