The present invention relates to air cleaning units and distribution systems within passenger vehicles.
Protection of human health and environmental quality during transport in passenger vehicles are particularly important design considerations for air management and distribution for mass transit vehicles. To address these considerations, most current HVAC units for bus and rail applications include particulate air filters. However, such filters are usually of low efficiency as the units are necessarily small due to spatial constraints within the HVAC units.
Typical HVAC units have a compact design that does not allow for drop-in implementation of new filtering technologies such as advanced cleaning technologies. It is predicted with a high level of confidence that the efficiency of air cleaning technologies, if placed in space available today, will not ensure sufficient (optimum, high efficiency, high quality) air cleaning. At the same time, it is not desirable to modify the layout of units (for example, make the units wider) due to cost, customer reluctance, and other reasons.
The present invention, in some constructions, addresses the concerns of the prior art by providing uniform air distribution in terms of air volume, temperature, humidity, quality, cleanliness, and other parameters. The invention can also, for example, utilize various air cleaning technologies at their desired performance efficiencies without the need to modify the size and shape of HVAC units for buses or rail vehicles. Such technologies (e.g., air purification, sanitation, disinfection, etc.) can include air filtration for both particulate and gaseous matter (e.g., activated carbon, etc.), air ionization, electrostatic precipitators, UV irradiation, photocatalytic oxidation, various ozone- and hydroxyl radicals-based methods, silver coating, and others.
In one embodiment, the invention provides a mass transit vehicle that includes a frame, a cabin, an air cleaning unit, and a duct system. The cabin is mounted to the frame and includes a roof and a passenger zone defining a passenger zone length. The air cleaning unit includes an air cleaner housing mounted to the roof, an air cleaning device disposed within the housing, an inlet upstream of the air cleaning device, and an outlet downstream of the air cleaning device. The air cleaning unit is operable to draw in air through the inlet, through the air cleaning device, and discharge a flow of cleaned air out of the outlet. The duct system is disposed within the cabin and extends substantially along the passenger zone length, and is in fluid communication with the outlet and operable to receive the flow of cleaned air from the outlet and direct the flow of cleaned air to the cabin substantially evenly along the passenger zone length.
In another embodiment the invention provides a mass transit vehicle that includes a frame. A cabin is mounted to the frame and includes a roof, a passenger zone that defines a passenger zone length, and an aisle and a window on opposite sides of a portion of the passenger zone. An air cleaning unit includes an air cleaner housing that is mounted to the roof, an air cleaning device that includes an advanced air cleaning media and is disposed within the housing, an inlet upstream of the air cleaning device, and an outlet downstream of the air cleaning device. The air cleaning unit is operable to draw in air through the inlet, through the air cleaning device, and discharge a flow of cleaned air out of the outlet. An air conditioning unit operates independently from the air cleaning unit and includes an air conditioner housing separate from the air cleaner housing and mounted to the roof, an air conditioning device disposed within the air conditioning housing, an inlet upstream of the air conditioning device, and an outlet downstream of the air conditioning device. The air conditioning unit is operable to draw in air through the inlet, through the air conditioning device, and discharge a flow of conditioned air out of the outlet. A duct system is disposed within the cabin and includes a cleaned air duct in fluid communication with the outlet of the air cleaning unit and a conditioned air duct in communication with the outlet of the air conditioning unit. The cleaned air duct extends substantially along the passenger zone length and the conditioned air duct extends substantially along the passenger zone length. The cleaned air duct directs the flow of cleaned air to the passenger zone substantially evenly along the passenger zone length and the conditioned air duct directs the flow of conditioned air toward the aisle and the window.
Other aspects of the invention will become apparent by consideration of the detailed description and accompanying drawings.
Before any embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Unless specified or limited otherwise, the terms “mounted,” “connected,” “supported,” and “coupled” and variations thereof are used broadly and encompass both direct and indirect mountings, connections, supports, and couplings. Further, “connected” and “coupled” are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections or couplings.
With reference to
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The seating area 70 and the disabled/standing area 74 defines a passenger zone 86 and a passenger zone length L where passengers 76 will be located during transit of the bus 10. The passengers 76 will be located in the passenger zone 86 for the majority of the time spent on the bus 10. Therefore, the majority of the air consumed will be consumed by passengers 76 within the passenger zone 86. In other embodiments, the bus 10 may be different and the first zone 82 and the passenger zone 86 may be arranged differently, as desired. In the illustrated embodiment, the first zone 82 flanks each passenger zone 86.
Referring to
The air cleaning unit 38 has an independent air cleaning housing 94 that is separate from the air conditioning housing 90 and in the illustrated embodiment is mounted on the roof 60. The air cleaning unit 38 is independent from the air conditioning unit 34 in form and function. The air cleaning housing 94 is separate from the air conditioning housing 90 and the air cleaning unit 38 may operate independently with separate controls or even without an air conditioning unit 34 employed on the bus 10. For example, in temperate climates the air conditioning unit 34 may be removed and the air cleaning unit 38 allowed to operate individually to maintain the desired environment within the cabin 30.
The air cleaning unit 38 includes an inlet 98, an outlet 102, and air cleaning media 106. Supply air flows into the inlet 98, through the air cleaning media 106, and out the outlet 102. The air cleaning media 106 includes one or more air cleaning technologies and is housed within the air cleaning housing 94.
In the embodiment shown in
With specific reference to
With continued reference to
With reference to
From the air cleaning unit 38, the cleaned air flow path 122 is delivered via the cleaned air duct 114 to the passenger zone 86. The conditioned air flow path 118 is delivered by the conditioned air duct 110 from the air conditioning unit 34 to the first zone 82. In the illustrated embodiment, the cleaned air flow path 122 and the conditioned airflow path 118 are mixed within the cabin 30 after exiting the duct system 42. In other embodiments, the cleaned air flow path 122 and the conditioned air flow path 118 may mix in the duct system 42 after exiting the cleaned air duct 114 and/or the conditioned air duct 110, respectively, before being discharged substantially uniformly to the first zone 82 and/or the passenger zone 86. For example, the cleaned air duct 114 could be contained within the conditioned air duct such that the cleaned air flow path 122 exits the cleaned air duct 114 into the conditioned air duct prior to being discharged substantially uniformly into the first zone 82 and/or the passenger zone 86.
Another embodiment of the invention will be described with respect to
In another embodiment, shown in broken lines, the air cleaning unit receives fresh air 134 and cleans it with any of the methods mentioned above. The cleaned air is then directed to the air conditioning unit 34. The air conditioning unit 34 receives the cleaned air from the air cleaning unit 38 and the return air 130. The air conditioning unit 34 then mixes and conditions the air and passes the cleaned and conditioned air to the cabin 30 via the common duct 138.
In yet another embodiment, the air conditioning unit 34 and the air cleaning unit 38 receive both fresh air 134 and return air 130 (i.e., the units 34, 38 receive the air shown in both the solid and broken lines in
Another embodiment of the invention will be described with respect to
In the illustrated embodiment, the air cleaning unit 38 and the air conditioning unit 34 are located adjacent to one another and both are positioned substantially near the rear 50 of the bus 10 and the end portion of the duct system 42. This arrangement provides for even distribution and sufficient mixing of the cleaned air flow path 122 and the conditioned air flow path 118. In other embodiments, the air cleaning unit 38 and the air conditioning unit 34 may be positioned differently (e.g., at the front 46 of the bus 10) such that the cleaned air flow path 122 and the conditioned air flow path 118 are evenly distributed and sufficiently mixed.
In another embodiment, illustrated in
In one embodiment, the air cleaning media 106 is an advanced air cleaning media. For purposes of this invention, advanced air cleaning media includes air ionization, electrostatic precipitators, UV irradiation, photocatalytic oxidation, various ozone- and hydroxyl radical-based methods, silver coating, as well as any other media that requires a technology beyond a simple particulate filter. Additionally, the air cleaned by the air cleaning unit 38 may include beneficial additives such as charged ions or other additives that have the ability to further clean downstream air and components (e.g., the duct system 42 and/or the air conditioning unit 34).
To this point, existing air cleaning technologies have not provided advanced cleaning media and techniques for passenger vehicles. Such cleaning media will improve the quality of air consumed by passengers 76 on such vehicles. In addition, the invention provides a delivery system that delivers the cleaned air to the passengers 76 throughout the cabin 30. The invention provides a better air cleaning and delivery system that may be utilized with or without the air conditioning unit 34.
The air cleaning unit 38 is separate and independent from the air conditioning unit 34 for several reasons. For example, a separate air cleaning unit 38 may be used for a bus 10 in a temperate climate that does not require air conditioning to maintain an acceptable temperature within the cabin 30. Additionally, the air cleaning unit 38 may be added to existing vehicles that already have an air conditioning unit 34 but no air cleaning system. The air cleaning unit 38 and the air conditioning unit 34 cooperate to maintain a satisfactory atmosphere within the cabin 30. This may be especially useful in urban environments where population concentration is large and concerns about air pollution are present. The invention may be added to existing vehicles to improve the air quality consumed by passengers 76 riding within the passenger zone 86.
The invention provides, among other things, an independently operating air cleaning unit 38 with an independent air cleaning housing 94. The air cleaning unit 38 includes an inlet 98, an air cleaning media 106 that may be multiple physical and chemical cleaning media for both particulate and gaseous pollution, and an outlet 102. The outlet 102 exhausts to a ducting system that extends substantially from the front 46 of the bus 10 to the rear of the bus 10 and is configured to deliver the cleaned air that has passed through the cleaning media to the passenger zone 86.
The above embodiments describe a system with an air cleaning unit 38 independent from an air conditioning unit 34. In one embodiment, the air cleaning unit 38 includes an independent air cleaner housing 94 and the air conditioning unit 34 includes an independent air conditioning housing 90. While the housings 90, 94 are independent, the air cleaning unit 38 and the air conditioning unit 34 may be controlled by a common controller, such that the atmosphere within the cabin 30 is controlled by a single controller.
In the case where a single controller controls both the air cleaning unit 38 and the air conditioning unit 34, the units 34, 38 may be controlled independent from one another or may be controlled by a common algorithm or program to interact with one another to maintain a desired atmosphere within the cabin 30. In other words, the air cleaning unit 38 and the air conditioning unit 34 may be physically independent but may include a shared control system.
In another embodiment, a shell (not shown) my be installed to cover the air conditioning unit 34 and the air cleaning unit 38 such that an onlooker would see only a single unit on the vehicle 10. The air conditioning housing 90 and the air cleaning housing 94 are still separate, but a single shell covers both housings 90, 94 to provide a desired appearance while maintaining the advantages of the separate housings 90, 94. In yet another embodiment, the air cleaning unit 38 and the air conditioning unit 34 could be mounted to the shell thereby eliminating the separate air cleaning housing 94 and the air conditioning housing 90 while maintaining the air cleaning unit 38 separate and independent from the air conditioning unit 34.
In one embodiment, the cleaned air is directed toward the passenger zone 86 such that substantially all the cleaned air passes into and through the passenger zone 86 before diffusing into the rest of the cabin 30.
The invention also provides an independent air conditioning unit 34 that includes an inlet 91, a conditioning zone 92 with a compressor, a condenser, and an evaporator, and an outlet 93. The air conditioning unit 34 is operable to affect the temperature of the air within the cabin 30. The air conditioning unit 34 may also perform other functions such as dehumidifying the cabin 30. In one embodiment, the air conditioner is in communication with the duct system 42 such that conditioned air is directed toward the first zone 82 such that substantially all the conditioned air passes into and through the first zone 82 before diffusing into the rest of the cabin 30.
Various features and advantages of the invention are set forth in the following claims.
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