FILTER ADAPTABLE FOR USE IN AN HVAC SYSTEM

Abstract

A filter for an HVAC system has a body formed entirely of an air-transmissive open-cell polymeric material. The body is of a generally rectangular configuration. The body has a plurality of cuts extending entirely through a thickness of the body from the top to the bottom of the body. The plurality of cuts define a plurality of cubical members frangibly connected together such that each of the plurality of cubical members is separable by hand from a remainder of the body such that an individual cubical member is removable along both a portion of a length and a portion of a width of the body.

Claims

1. A filter adaptable for use in an HVAC system, the filter comprising: a body formed entirely of an air-transmissive open-cell polymeric material, said body having a generally rectangular configuration, said body having a top and a bottom and a front and a back and sides, said body having a plurality of cuts extending entirely through a thickness thereof from the top to the bottom, the plurality of cuts defining a plurality of cubical members frangibly connected together such that each of the plurality of cubical members is separable by hand from a remainder of said body such that an individual cubical member of the plurality of cubical members is removable along both of a portion of a length and a portion of a width of said body.

2. The filter of claim 1, the plurality of cubical members being connected by a segment of the air-transmissive open-cell polymeric material.

3. The filter of claim 1, the air-transmissive open-cell polymeric material being selected from the group consisting of foamed polyurethane, foamed polyether and foamed polyester.

4. The filter of claim 3, the air-transmissive open-cell polymeric material being open-cell foam polyurethane.

5. The filter of claim 1, the top being planar and in parallel relationship to the bottom, the sides being planar and in parallel relation to each other, the front being planar and in parallel relation to the back.

6. The filter of claim 1, each of the plurality of cubical members having sides of approximately one inch square area.

7. The filter of claim 1, wherein the length is twenty-five inches and the width is twenty-five inches and the thickness is one inch.

8. The filter of claim 1, wherein said body is flexible and compressible.

9. The filter of claim 1, wherein said body has no frame around the perimeter thereof and no support surface on either the top or the bottom thereof.

10. A filter for an HVAC system, the filter comprising: a body formed entirely of an air-transmissive material, said body being of a generally rectangular configuration, said body having a top and a bottom and a front and a back and sides, said body having a plurality of cuts extending entirely through a thickness thereof from the top to the bottom, the plurality of cuts defining a plurality of cubical members frangibly connected together, said body having no frame around the periphery thereof and no support surface on either the top or the bottom thereof, the plurality of cuts extending lengthwise and widthwise across said body such that an individual cubical member of the plurality of cubical members is removable along both of a portion of a length that a portion of a width of said body.

11. The filter of claim 10, said body being flexible and compressible.

12. The filter of claim 10, wherein the individual cubical member is separable by hand from a remainder of said body.

13. The filter of claim 10, wherein the air-transmissive material is foamed polyurethane.

14. The filter of claim 10, wherein each of the individual cubical members is a one inch cube.

15. A method of installing a filter into an HVAC system, the method comprising: removing an existing filter from the HVAC system; forming a body entirely of an air-transmissive open-cell polymeric material having a plurality of cubical members frangibly connected together, the step of forming comprising: cutting slits entirely through the body such that the plurality of cubical members are frangibly connected together, the cut slits extending lengthwise across the body and widthwise across the body so as to form the plurality of cubical members; hand separating some of the plurality of cubical members from the remainder of the body until the body is of a size no less than the size of the existing filter such that an individual cubical member of the plurality of cubical members is separable along both a portion of a length and a portion of a width of said body; and inserting the body with a size no less than the size of the existing filter into the HVAC system.

16. The method of claim 15, the separate step of separating comprising: breaking some of the plurality of cubical members by hand from adjacent cubical members until the body has a size approximating the existing filter.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising: laying the body over the removed existing filter, the step of separating comprising: removing some of the plurality of cubical members until the body has a length and a width approximating a length and a width of the removed existing filter.

18. The method of claim 15, the body being formed of open-cell polyurethane material.

19. The method of claim 15, the body having no frame around the periphery thereof nor any support surface on either a top or a bottom thereof.

20. The method of claim 15, the body having a thickness equal to a thickness of the removed existing filter.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0035] FIG. 1 is a an upper perspective view showing a prior art pleated air filter.

[0036] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the installation of the prior art air filter into an HVAC system.

[0037] FIG. 3 is an upper perspective view showing the air filter of the present invention.

[0038] FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing details of the air filter of FIG. 3.

[0039] FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the separation of the cubical members of the air filter of the present invention for the purpose of sizing the filter to the HVAC system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0040] Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown the air filter 40 in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The air filter 40 can have a wide variety of shapes and sizes. In particular, the air filter 40 includes a body 42 that is formed of an air-transmissive material. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, this air-transmissive material is an open-cell foam material. This open-cell foam material can be selected from the group of foamed polyurethane, foamed polyether or foamed polyester (reticulated and non-reticulated). As can be seen, the body 42 has a generally rectangular configuration. In particular, the body has a top 44, a bottom 46, a pair of sides 48 and 50, a front 52, and a back 54. The body has a plurality of cuts 56 through a thickness thereof. This thickness is defined between the top 44 and the bottom 46. The plurality of cuts 56 define a plurality of cubical members 58 that are frangibly connected together.

[0041] As will be described hereinafter, the plurality of cubical members 58 are frangibly connected to each other by a segment or piece of the air-transmissive foam material. As such, the body 42 is held together in its generally rectangular configuration by the segments or pieces of the air-transmissive material.

[0042] The top 44 is in parallel planar relationship to the bottom 46. The pair of sides 48 and 50 are in parallel planar relationship to each other. The front 52 is in parallel planar relationship to the back 54.

[0043] In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, as can be seen in FIG. 3, for the purposes of being positioned within HVAC system, the body 42 will have a length of twenty-five inches and a width of twenty-five inches. The thickness of the body 42 is approximately one inch. This twenty-five inchtwenty-five inchone inch configuration approximates the sizes of the maximum of most HVAC systems. In order to be installed with smaller HVAC systems, it is only necessary to remove the individual cubical members 58 along a column or row of the body 42 until the remaining portion of the body 42 approximates the size of the housing or receptacle of the HVAC system.

[0044] As can be seen in FIG. 3, the body 42 of the air filter 40 has no frame around the perimeter thereof and no support surface on either the top or the bottom thereof. As such, there is no structure that can interfere with the ability to individually hand-remove the cubical members from the remainder of the body. To the extent that the body 42 is slightly larger than the housing to which it is to be placed, the filter 40 is easily compressible and flexible so that it can be squeezed into the area of the housing or receptacle of the HVAC system. If there would be a frame around the periphery of the body 42, this frame would need to be remove in order to properly separate the cubical members from the remainder of the body 42. Any support surface on either the top 44 of the bottom 46 would interfere with the ability to hand-removed the individual cubical members. Any support surface on either the top 44 or the bottom 46 would also tend to interfere with the proper filtering of air through the HVAC system.

[0045] FIG. 4 further shows the filter 40 of the present invention. FIG. 4 shows a close-up view of a portion of the larger filter of FIG. 3. As can be seen, the air filter 40 includes the body 42 that is formed of the air-transmissive material. The body has a generally rectangular configuration with a top 44, the bottom 46, the pair of sides 48 and 50, the front 52 and the back 54. The plurality of cuts 56 extend through the thickness of the body. This thickness is defined between the top 44 and the bottom 46. The plurality of cuts 56 define the plurality of cubical members 58 that are frangibly connected together. Each of the cubical members will generally be a one-inch cube or a and/or having a one inch area on each side thereof.

[0046] The plurality of cubical members 58 are frangibly connected to each other by a segment or a piece of the air-transmissive foam material 60. As such, the body 42 is held together in its generally rectangular configuration by the segments or pieces of the air-transmissive material 60.

[0047] Each of the plurality of cubical members 58 are separable by hand from a remainder of the body 42. Preferably, each of the plurality of cubical members 58 has sides of one inch square area. For the purposes of fitting into the housing or receptacle of the HVAC system, these one-inch sides of the cubical members will allow the user to easily determine the proper size of the filter 42 insert within the HVAC system. For example, if the size of the OEM filter is 79, then each of the cubical members 58 can be removed until it achieves the proper size.

[0048] The present invention is also applicable to fixed air-conditioning or heating systems, such as window unit air conditioners or heaters, mobile air purifiers and other systems that require an air filter. As such, the term HVAC system can include various varieties of stationary systems in industrial, commercial and residential use.

[0049] The body 42 can be shaped by removing the cubical members until the desired size is reached. Since the body 42 is a very large size, smaller HVAC systems can have several filters formed from a single body 42. In terms of inventory, the use of the relatively large bodies 42 allows the bodies to be stacked one upon another within a storage area. When a certain size of air filter is required, a person can take the body 42 and remove the cubical members 48 until the desired size is achieved. The remaining portion of the body 42 can be placed back into storage for future shaping. Since the body 42 has no frame around the periphery thereof, the shaping (by the separation of the cubical members 58 from adjacent cubical members) can be carried out in a quick and easy fashion.

[0050] The plurality of cuts 56 are achieved by cutting through the thickness of the body 42. In particular, there is a series of equally-spaced cuts formed lengthwise across the body and a series of equally-spaced cuts extending widthwise across the body 42. In the course of this cutting, a small segment of material 60 can be retained so that the cubical members 58 are frangibly secured together. As such, only a small force, by hand, allows the cubical members 58 to be separated from a remainder of the body 42. The step of cutting can be carried out by a knife, a slicer, or a laser.

[0051] FIG. 5 shows this operation. In particular, in FIG. 5, it can be seen that the body 42 is grasped with the user's hands 60 and 64. The user's hands 64 act on the body 42 such that the cubical members 66 are separated from the cubical members 68. This will continue so that the cubical members along the line 70 continued to be separated from each other and an installable filter 72 is thereby formed. Installable filter 72 has a shape and size adapted to fit the housing or receptacle of the HVAC system. The remaining portion 74 can be placed back into storage for future use or discarded. The polymeric foam material used for the manufacture of the body 42 is flexible and compressible. Ultimately, the installable filter 72 should be no less than the size of the OEM filter. If it is slightly larger than the OEM filter, it is easily compressible so as to fit within the receptacle or housing of the HVAC system. This compressibility allows the filter of the present invention to be properly retained without the need for a frame or support surfaces in order to establish a secure and tight fit within the receptacle or housing of the HVAC system.

[0052] Experiments with the polyurethane foam material of the body 42 of the filter 40 of the present invention has shown superior particulate retaining capabilities. The particles are removed from the airflow while, at the same time, the airflow through the air-conditioning system is not impeded to any substantial degree. As such, the present invention has a proper Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV). The configuration of the shaped filter achieved by the present invention prevents the passage of airborne molecular contaminants and volatile organic compounds. In tests conducted with the filter 40 of the present invention, it was found that the MERV value is 11. As reference, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers has come up with the MERV value to measure air filter performance. Under MERV, air filters are rated on a scale of 1 to 16 (with 17 to 20 reserved for true HEPA filters). The higher the rating, the more thoroughly an air filter can capture airborne particles as small as 0.3 m. For example, a MERV value of 1 to 4 will capture most types of dust, pollen and dust mites. A MERV value of 5-8 will capture most mold spores and pet dander. A MERV value of 9-12 will capture particles and Legionella bacteria. A MERV value 13 to 16 will capture all bacteria, most smoke, face powder and paint pigments. According to the in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, filters with a MERV value of 7 to 12 are just as effective as true HEPA filters at removing most airborne particles.

[0053] It is important to keep in mind that a higher rating does not automatically mean better performance. As MERV values rise, the pores within the air filter shrink in size. This generates more resistance to air flow. This can cause an HVAC system that is not designed for that particular filter to work harder. Not only can this potentially damage the HVAC system, but it also degrades indoor air quality due to the reduction of airflow through the filter. For this reason, the National Air Filtration Association recommends filters rated at MERV 9 to 12 for residential systems. In the present case, the MERV value of 11 is achieved by the polyurethane foam material of the body 42 of the filter 40 and provides an optimum particle retaining capability while reducing strain and resistance on the HVAC system of the vehicle.

[0054] The filter 40 of the present invention greatly enhances the ability for suppliers to supply such air filters for a wide variety of vehicles. It is not necessary for the supplier to carry a wide variety and large number of sizes of such air filters. Since the present invention lacks the frame associated with existing pleated filters, the storage and shipment can be carried out in a relatively easy and efficient manner by simply compressing the filter and stacking the filters. When a particular size is required, all that is necessary is for the supplier to simply remove those cubical members from the body until the proper size is achieved. The present invention provides ease of installation by virtue of the fact that there are no tools required such as scissors, measuring devices, knives or other cutting devices. Since the filter of the present invention is compressible, minor variations in the size requirements and in the size provided by the supplier will not significantly impede the ability to supply the filter nor impede the ability for the filter to carry out its desired filtering operations. The filter of the present invention has a relatively long life when compared to the pleated paper filters of the prior art (as shown in FIG. 1). The filter of the present invention is relatively inexpensive. Since it is extremely easy to install, the cost associated with installation are significantly reduced.

[0055] The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention is illustrative and explanatory thereof. Various changes in the details of the illustrated construction can be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the true spirit of the invention. The present invention should only be limited by the following claims and their legal equivalents.