US-12624849-B2 - Air cleaning module

US12624849B2US 12624849 B2US12624849 B2US 12624849B2US-12624849-B2

Abstract

An air cleaning module includes a filter, a fan, a light source unit, a housing and a guide structure. The fan is configured to provide a suction direction and a blowing direction of a fluid which are substantially aligned. The light source unit is arranged to be adjacent to the filter to emit a light toward the filter. The light having a property that sterilizes a contaminant source in a fluid. The housing includes a fluid passage space. The guide structure is arranged between the fan and the filter and configured to guide a fluid to move along a fluid passage path set by the guide structure. The filter and the light source unit are arranged in the fluid passage space such that the light source unit sterilizes a fluid as a fluid flows toward the light source unit.

Inventors

Ji-Won Kim
Jae-Hak Jeong
Sang-chul Shin

Assignees

SEOUL VIOSYS CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20220901
Priority Date: 20170830

Claims (20)

1 . An air purifying device, comprising: a housing including an inner space, wherein the housing comprises a bottom surface, a top surface facing the bottom surface, and a side wall connecting the bottom surface and the top surface; a fan configured to provide a suction direction and a blowing direction of a fluid, wherein the fan includes a blowing port; a filter configured to filter the fluid passing therethrough; an inlet configured to introduce the fluid from an external space of the housing into the inner space of the housing; an outlet configured to discharge the fluid from the inner space to the external space of the housing; a light source arranged closer to the outlet than the inlet and comprising a plurality of light emitters; a guide disposed in the housing and configured to provide a first region and a second region different from the first region, the first region including a fluid passage path and the second region provided in an area outside of the fluid passage path, the area extending along the side wall of the housing; a sensor (i) provided in the second region having a lower flow rate of the fluid than a flow rate of the fluid in the first region, (ii) positioned between a first plane defined by the blowing port of the fan and a second plane defined by the filter, and (iii) configured to sense a material in the fluid, the sensor located to be deviated from the fluid passage path and the sensor disposed on the side wall of the housing; a controller configured to control the light source and a number of rotations of the fan based on a detection result by the sensor; and a display configured to display a control state of the fan, wherein the filter is disposed in the first region to filter the fluid passing through the fluid passage path.
2 . The air purifying device of claim 1 , wherein the housing further comprises a filter fixing region to mount the filter in the inner space of the housing, and wherein the filter fixing region includes an insertion recess or a protrusion to allow the filter to be coupled to the housing.
3 . The air purifying device of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of the light emitters comprises a first light emitter emitting first light and a second light emitter emitting second light, and wherein the first light and the second light have different wavelength ranges from each other.
4 . The air purifying device of claim 1 , wherein the housing further comprises a light source fixing region including an insertion recess or a protrusion to allow the light source to be coupled to the housing.
5 . The air purifying device of claim 1 , wherein the filter has a size larger than a size of the fan.
6 . The air purifying device of claim 1 , wherein a flow rate of the fluid in the second region is lower than a flow rate of the fluid in the first region.
7 . The air purifying device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to increase the number of rotations of the fan in response to the detection result indicating that the material present in the fluid has a concentration equal to or greater than a predetermined value.
8 . The air purifying device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to increase an amount of light from the light source in response to the detection result indicating that the material present in the fluid has a concentration equal to or greater than a predetermined value.
9 . An air purifying device, comprising: a housing including an inner space, wherein the housing comprises a bottom surface, a top surface facing the bottom surface, and a side wall connecting the bottom surface and the top surface; a fan configured to provide a suction direction and a blowing direction of a fluid, wherein the fan includes a blowing port; a filter configured to filter the fluid passing therethrough; an inlet configured to introduce the fluid from an external space of the housing into the inner space of the housing; an outlet configured to discharge the fluid from the inner space to the external space of the housing; a light source disposed in the housing and comprising a plurality of light emitters; a guide disposed between a first region with a fluid passage path and a second region provided in an area outside of the fluid passage path, the first region and the second region disposed in the inner space of the housing, the area extending along the side wall of the housing; a sensor (i) provided in the inner space of the housing and configured to sense a material in the fluid that has not been filtered by the filter, the sensor disposed in the second region having a lower flow rate of the fluid than a flow rate of the fluid in the first region, the sensor positioned between a first plane defined by the blowing port of the fan and a second plane defined by the filter, and the sensor located to be deviated from the fluid passage path, the sensor disposed on the side wall of the housing; a controller disposed to receive sensing information from the sensor and configured to control the light source and a number of rotations of the fan based on the sensing information; and a display configured to display a control state of the fan, wherein the filter is provided in the first region.
10 . The air purifying device of claim 9 , wherein the sensor is disposed in the second region without the fluid passage path.
11 . The air purifying device of claim 9 , further comprising: a display configured to display at least one of the sensing information by the sensor, a control state of the light source, or a control state of the fan.
12 . The air purifying device of claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to increase the number of rotations of the fan or an amount of light from the light source in response to the sensing information indicating that the material present in the fluid has a concentration equal to or greater than a predetermined value.
13 . The air purifying device of claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to turn off operations of light and the fan in response to the sensing information indicating that the material present in the fluid has a concentration less than a predetermined value or that the fluid is free of the material.
14 . The air purifying device of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of light emitters includes two light emitters configured to emit light having different wavelengths from each other, or wherein each of the plurality of light emitters comprises: a substrate; and a light emitting layer disposed on a front surface of the substrate and including a first conductive type semiconductor region, an active region, a second conductive type semiconductor region, and a conductive region comprising a metal.
15 . An air purifying device, comprising: a housing including an inner space, wherein the housing comprises a bottom surface, a top surface facing the bottom surface, and a side wall connecting the bottom surface and the top surface; a fan configured to provide a suction direction and a blowing direction of a fluid, wherein the fan includes a blowing port; a filter configured to filter the fluid passing therethrough; an inlet configured to introduce the fluid from an external space of the housing to the inner space of the housing; an outlet configured to discharge the fluid from the inner space to the external space of the housing; a light source disposed in the housing and comprising a first light emitter configured to emit first light having a first peak wavelength and second light emitter configured to emit light having a second peak wavelength different from the first peak wavelength, each of the first light emitter and the second light emitter comprises: a substrate and a light emitting layer disposed on the substrate and including a first conductive type semiconductor region, an active region emitting light, and a second conductive type semiconductor region, and a conductive region; a guide disposed in the housing and configured to provide a first region having a fluid passage path, the first region different from a second region provided in the housing, wherein the second region is provided in an area outside of the fluid passage path, the area extending along the side wall of the housing; a sensor provided in the inner space of the housing and configured to sense a material in the fluid, the sensor disposed in the second region having a lower flow rate of the fluid than a flow rate of the fluid in the first region, the sensor positioned between a first plane defined by the blowing port of the fan and a second plane defined by the filter, and the sensor located to be deviated from the fluid passage path and the sensor disposed on the side wall of the housing; a controller disposed to receive sensing information from the sensor and configured to control the light source and the fan based on the sensing information; and a display configured to display a control state of the fan, wherein the filter is disposed in the first region to filter the fluid passing through the fluid passage path.
16 . The air purifying device of claim 15 , further comprising: a display configured to display at least one of the sensing information by the sensor, a control state of the light source, or a control state of the fan.
17 . The air purifying device of claim 15 , wherein the controller is configured to increase the number of rotations of the fan or an amount of the light from the light source in response to the sensing information indicating that the material present in the fluid has a concentration equal to or greater than a predetermined value.
18 . The air purifying device of claim 15 , wherein the controller is configured to turn off operations of the light and the fan in response to the sensing information indicating that the material present in the fluid has a concentration less than a predetermined value or that the fluid is free of the material.
19 . The air purifying device of claim 15 , wherein the filter has a size larger than a size of the fan.
20 . The air purifying device of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of light emitters comprises: a substrate; and a light emitting layer disposed on a front surface of the substrate and including a first conductive type semiconductor region, an active region, a second conductive type semiconductor region, and a conductive region comprising a metal.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION AND PRIORITY This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/036,813, filed on Sep. 29, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/116,219 which claims priority from and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2017-0110498, filed on Oct. 30, 2017, and Korean Patent Application No. 10-2017-0125713, filed on Sep. 28, 2017, which are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein. BACKGROUND Field The present disclosure relates to an air cleaning module. Discussion of the Background In recent years, as pollution due to industrialization is getting worse, environmental concerns are increasing, and well-being is becoming an increasing trend. Accordingly, demands for clean air keep increasing, and particularly, related products for the clean air, such as a deodorization module, are being developed to provide clean indoor air. The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for understanding of the background of the inventive concepts, and, therefore, it may contain information that does not constitute prior art. SUMMARY The present disclosure provides an air cleaning module having improved deodorizing efficiency. In some embodiments, an air cleaning module includes a filter, a fan, a light source unit, a housing and a guide structure. The fan is configured to provide a suction direction and a blowing direction of a fluid which are substantially aligned. The light source unit is arranged to be adjacent to the filter to emit a light toward the filter. The light having a property that sterilizes a contaminant source in a fluid. The housing includes a fluid passage space and further includes a bottom, a ceiling facing the bottom, and a sidewall. The guide structure is arranged between the fan and the filter and configured to guide a fluid to move along a fluid passage path set by the guide structure. The guide structure separates a first space from a second space, the first space including the fluid passage path and the second space including no fluid passage path. The light source unit includes a substrate elongated in one direction and at least one light emitting device mounted on a front surface of the substrate to emit the light. The filter and the light source unit are arranged in the fluid passage space such that the light source unit sterilizes a fluid as a fluid flows toward the light source unit. In some embodiments, the guide structure further includes a main guide provided between the fan and the light source unit. In other embodiments, the guide structure further includes a sub-guide provided behind the substrate of the light source unit. In another embodiment, the air cleaning module further comprising a sensor provided on the inner space of the housing to sense a material in the fluid. The sensor is disposed in the second space. In some embodiments, the filter is a photocatalytic filter, and the light source unit provides the light to the photocatalytic filter to react with the photocatalytic filter. In other embodiments, the air cleaning module of claim further includes a HEPA filter, and the light source unit provides a light at a sterilization wavelength to the HEPA filter. In some embodiments, the housing further includes a light source fixing part protruded from inner surface of the housing to secure the light source unit. Additionally, or alternatively, the light source fixing part secures the light source unit to set a height of the light emitting device to correspond to a height of a center of the filter. In some embodiments, a home appliance including the air cleaning module is provided. The housing of the home appliance includes the housing of the air cleaning module, instead of adopting a separate housing. In some embodiments, an air cleaning module includes a filter, a fan, a light source unit, a housing, a guide unit and a sensor. The filter is configured to filter a fluid passing therehrough. The fan is configured to provide a suction direction and a blowing direction of a fluid. The suction direction and the blowing direction are substantially identical. The light source unit is provided between the fan and the filter to provide a light having a wavelength to sterilize a contaminant source in the fluid. The housing provides a fluid flow space, and the housing further includes a bottom, a ceiling facing the bottom, and a sidewall. In some embodiments, the guide unit is configured to guide a fluid to move along one or more fluid flow paths set by the guide unit. The guide unit includes a main guide that separates a first space from a second space. The first space includes the fluid flow path formed and the second space including no fluid flow path. The sensor is provided on an inner space of the housing to sense a material in the fluid and disposed in the second space. The light source unit includes a substrate and at least one light emitting device