Patent Application
20230406510
The rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 sickness, has alerted countries around the world to educate the general public on the importance of personal hygiene, social distancing, the use of face masks and gloves. One of the most effective methods of fighting the spread of highly contagious viruses like SARS-CoV-2 is proven to be social distancing. Recent studies have unveiled the airborne nature of the virus SARS-CoV-2 with strong evidences. Scientists have recently confirmed the possibility of airborne nature of the virus in specific conditions i.e. in confined, crowded and poorly ventilated spaces.
Careful design of HVAC system, strategic location of air supply and extract points and well planned seating layout will help minimize the spread of airborne microbial agents in a centrally air-conditioned space such as the aircraft cabin, commercial and government buildings, inside the metro tubes, in the staterooms on cruise ships, and inside the hospitals.
The Covid-19 pandemic has made a significant impact on the aviation industry. Although airlines have taken substantial steps to ensure the safety of their passengers, the fixed seating configuration in an aircraft makes the social distancing difficult without reducing the number of passengers onboard. Even with reduction of passengers onboard, social distancing is difficult to observe when all passengers breathe in the same conditioned air as the case in most confined spaces. Thus, there are needs to minimize the spread of contaminants from person to person (via cough, sneeze, talk or shout) in enclosed environments and improve the air distribution system and reduce the risk of contracting airborne infectious diseases.
The present disclosure generally relates to an air curtain device and an air circulation system having the air curtain device.
In light of the present disclosure, and without limiting the scope of the disclosure in any way, in an aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, an air curtain device is provided. The air curtain device includes a main body; an air supply opening configured to receive air; an armrest air jet aperture configured to discharge the received air, and a headrest air jet aperture configured to discharge the received air.
In an aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, each of the headrest air jet aperture and the armrest air jet aperture has a linear shape.
In an aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the air supply opening is configured to supply air to at least one of the headrest air jet aperture or the armrest air jet aperture.
In an aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the armrest air jet aperture is provided in a direction perpendicular to the headrest air jet aperture.
In an aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the main body includes at least one of nylon fabric, leather, polyester, vinyl or carbon fiber.
In an aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the main body is inflatable by air.
In an aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the main body is configured to be provided on a seat, a desk or table.
In an aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the air curtain device further includes a muffler configured to reduce noise of the air curtain device.
In an aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the air curtain device is configured to provide an air barrier.
In an aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the main body includes an inflatable jacket.
In light of the present disclosure, and without limiting the scope of the disclosure in any way, in an aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, an air circulation system is provided. The air circulation system includes an air supply device, and an air curtain device coupled to the air supply device. The air curtain device includes a main body; an air supply opening configured to receive air; an armrest air jet aperture configured to discharge the received air, and a headrest air jet aperture configured to discharge the received air.
Additional features and advantages are described herein, and will be apparent from the following Detailed Description and the figures. It should be understood that the effects described in the present specification are only examples, which do not impose limitations, and additional effects may be further provided.
Features and advantages of the present disclosure, including an air curtain device and an air circulation system having the same, described herein may be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
The reader will appreciate the foregoing details, as well as others, upon considering the following detailed description of certain non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure including the air curtain device and an air circulation system having the same.
The present disclosure is generally related to an air curtain device and an air circulation system having the same.
The embodiments are described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the present technology are shown. Indeed, the present technology may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.
Likewise, many modifications and other embodiments of an air curtain device and an air circulation system described herein will come to mind to one of skill in the art to which the invention pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.
Throughout the specification and claims, terms may have nuanced meanings suggested or implied in context beyond an explicitly stated meaning. Likewise, the phrase “in an embodiment” as used herein does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or implementation and the phrase “in another embodiment” as used herein does not necessarily refer to a different embodiment or implementation. It is intended, for example, that claimed subject matter includes combinations of exemplary embodiments or implementations in whole or in part.
In general, terminology may be understood at least in part from usage in context. For example, terms, such as “and”, “or”, or “and/or,” as used herein may include a variety of meanings that may depend at least in part upon the context in which such terms are used. Typically, “or” if used to associate a list, such as A, B or C, is intended to mean A, B, and C, here used in the inclusive sense, as well as A, B or C, here used in the exclusive sense. In addition, the term “one or more” or “at least one” as used herein, depending at least in part upon context, may be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in a singular sense or may be used to describe combinations of features, structures or characteristics in a plural sense. Similarly, terms, such as “a”, “an”, or “the”, again, may be understood to convey a singular usage or to convey a plural usage, depending at least in part upon context. In addition, the term “based on” or “determined by” may be understood as not necessarily intended to convey an exclusive set of factors and may, instead, allow for existence of additional factors not necessarily expressly described, again, depending at least in part on context.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. The terms “comprise”, “comprises”, “comprised” or “comprising”, “including” or “having” and the like in the present specification and claims are used in an inclusive sense, that is to specify the presence of the stated features but not preclude the presence of additional or further features.
The rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 (corona virus) has alerted countries around the world to educate the general public on the importance of personal hygiene, social distancing, the use of face masks and gloves. One of the most effective methods of fighting the spread of highly contagious viruses like SARS-CoV-2 is proven to be social distancing.
Careful design of HVAC system, strategic location of air supply and extract points and well planned seating layout will help minimize the spread of airborne microbial agents in a centrally air-conditioned space such as the aircraft cabin, commercial and government buildings, inside the metro tubes, in the staterooms on cruise ships, and inside the hospitals.
For example, the air quality inside the aircraft cabin is dependent on several factors, which include the design of ventilation system, ventilation air flow rate, ambient air quality, the design of the cabin volume, seating layout, the presence and strength of sources of contaminants and the operation and maintenance of cabin ventilation system.
The Covid-19 pandemic has made a significant impact on the aviation industry. Although airlines have also taken substantial steps to ensure the safety of their passengers, the fixed seating configuration in an aircraft makes the social distancing difficult without reducing the number of passengers onboard. Even with reduction of passengers onboard, social distancing is difficult to observe when all passengers breathe in the same conditioned air as the case in most confined spaces. The aviation industry would need a more vigorous and long-term strategy to ensure passengers' health without decreasing passengers densities and associated revenues. In the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the aviation industry is struggling to regain their customers' trust in taking a flight without worrying about contracting harmful microbial agents inside the aircraft cabin. Thus, it is important to minimize the transport of contaminants from person to person (via cough, sneeze, talk or shout) in enclosed environments and improve the air distribution system and reduce the risk of contracting airborne infectious diseases. There are two possible airborne transmission routes of contracting harmful microbes i.e. through contaminated droplets and aerosols. Surface transmission (fomites) route is easy to deal with because airlines take good care of aircraft cabins cleanliness before and during the flight. Therefore, airborne transmission is the problematic route that needs engineering solution, hence this invention.
This present disclosure is directed to an air curtain device and an air circulation system that minimize the spread of infectious air in a commercial aircraft's cabin and/or in the general indoor environment of any confined space by creating an invisible air barrier/air-curtain around the seats of passengers in aircraft cabins, office workstations and meeting rooms. The air curtain device and the air circulation system will also minimize, for example, the spread of microbial agents produced when passengers/occupants sitting next to each other cough, sneeze, snore, shout, or talk. This will ensure that any respiratory droplets or aerosols are contained within the space of a single passenger/occupant and will not be inhaled by the nearby passengers or occupants until the used air is discharged.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided an air curtain device 100. As illustrated in
The air curtain device 100 is provided around (e.g., at the back and/or top, on the left and right sides) the seat using a crafted and engineered rectangular aperture (slit). The rectangular apertures including an armrest air jet aperture 103 and a headrest air jet aperture 104 are long enough to provide total coverage and thin enough to create an effective air blade that is impervious to droplets and aerosols emanating from cough, sneeze, talk, shout, and the like of individual passengers. The air curtains extend from the armrest level (for the left and right sides) and at the headrest level (for the back side) to the crest (ceiling) of the cabin, where the air is extracted as part of displacement ventilation system, in which airflow begins from the lower level and extracted at the upper level of the cabin. The air curtain device 100 may further include an embedded muffler to reduce noise. The air curtain device 100 may be less pressurized due to the remotely located air supply fan away from the cabin environment.
To retrofit the existing aircraft cabin seats as illustrated in
In the present disclosure, the air curtain device can, for example, stop the spread of virus and other harmful microbes through generating air curtain barrier. The air curtain device can be used, for example, in indoor space and/or enclosed environments such as the airplane/cruise ship and inside the metro and office buildings.
Some features and advantages of the air curtain device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure are:
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided an air circulation system as illustrated in
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an air curtain device and/or an air circulation system may be applied to enclosed environments in the office buildings as illustrated in
Some features and advantages of an air circulation system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure are:
It should be understood that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present subject matter and without diminishing its intended advantages. It is therefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims.
The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/091,615, filed Oct. 14, 2020, the disclosure of which is incorporated into this specification by reference in its entirety.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/QA2021/050021 | 10/14/2021 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63091615 | Oct 2020 | US |
