GB2576887A

GB2576887A - A method for increasing negative ions in air

Info

Publication number: GB2576887A
Application number: GB1814360.2A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ren Chuansen
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2018-09-04
Filing date: 2018-09-04
Publication date: 2020-03-11
Anticipated expiration: 2038-09-04
Also published as: CN110034489B; GB2576887A9; CN110034489A; GB2576887B; GB201814360D0

Abstract

A conductive liquid in a container 5 is charged. The charged liquid is transformed into aerosol and gaseous/vapour states and transported into air. A power supply 6, which may have an AC/DC adapter, may be used to charge the liquid and generate ions, preferably by applying a voltage to the inside of the liquid container. The ions generated may be positive or negative depending on the polarity of two DC electrodes, which may have a switch to reverse the polarity. The charged aerosol and vapour may be transported into air by means of an atomising sprayer, an ultrasonic atomiser or a steamer.

Description

A method for increasing negative ions in air

1. At present, negative ion generators on the market mostly use high-voltage negative electrodes to generate an inhomogeneous electric field, through corona discharge, to ionise air molecules and generate airborne negative ions. The dose of negative ions generated through this method depends on the voltage applied. If a higher dose of airborne negative ions is desired, an even higher voltage is required, which not only pushes up the cost, but also imposes a hidden danger of electricity shock. To produce high concentrations of negative ions through corona discharge, some byproducts, such as ozone, nitrogen dioxide and other harmful pollutants, are also produced, which, contradictory to the purpose to purify the air, pollutes the air instead.

Statement of invention

2. In order to avoid the generation of pollutants that are harmful to human health, such as ozone or nitrogen dioxide, and to eliminate the high voltage hazards at the same time, the Applicant has developed a new method to increase negative ions in air which charges a conductive liquid with electrical charges, transforms the charged liquid into aerosol and gaseous states, and then transports the aerosol and vapour into air, adding ions to the air at the same time. When the liquid is positively charged, the method will produce airborne positive ions; when the liquid is negatively charged, the method will produce airborne negative ions. An example of the liquid is water, which already exists in air naturally. The method does not involve corona discharge at any stage, and hence does not produce harmful by-products such as ozone or nitrogen dioxide.

3. One embodiment of the invention is a device that generates ions and outputs them into air, including a liquid container (5), a grounded power supply (6), an atomising sprayer (81) and an opening (9), in which the liquid in the liquid container (5) is connected to an electrode of the DC output of the power supply (6). The charged liquid is then broken into droplets by the sprayer (81). The charged droplets leave the liquid container (5) through the opening (9), resulting in more ions in the air. A switch can be used to change the polarity of the DC output, so that the liquid is charged positively or negatively according to the user's choice.

4. Another embodiment of the invention is a device that generates ions and outputs them into air, including a liquid container (5), a grounded power supply (6), an ultrasonic atomiser (82) and an opening (9), in which the liquid in the liquid container (5) is connected to an electrode of the DC output of the power supply (6). The charged liquid is then broken into droplets by the atomiser (82). The charged droplets leave the liquid container (5) through the opening (9), resulting in more ions in the air.

A switch can be used to change the polarity of the DC output, so that the liquid is charged positively or negatively according to the user's choice.

5. A third embodiment of the invention is a device that generates ions and outputs them into air, including a liquid container (5), a grounded power supply (6), a steamer (83) and an opening (9), in which water and/or solution in the liquid container (5) is connected to an electrode of the DC output of the power supply (6). The charged water is then vaporised into steam by the steamer (83). The charged steam leaves the liquid container (5) through the opening (9), resulting in more ions in the air. A switch can be used to change the polarity of the DC output, so that the liquid is charged positively or negatively according to the user's choice.

6. Figure 1 shows a sketch of example embodiments of the invention. The main components are connected according to functional requirements, so they are not limited to the spatial layout shown by the schematic drawing.

7. In Figure 1:5- liquid container; 6 - power supply; 8 - transformer; 9 - opening. An example of the transformer (8) is an atomising sprayer (81), an ultrasonic atomiser (82), or a steamer (83).

D Hosts on Exsrnoite

8. The relative spatial positions between the main components of the example embodiments of the invention can be laid out as shown in Figure 1. The grounded power supply (6) provides electric power to charge the liquid in the liquid container (5) and energy to be used by the transformer (8). An example of the transformer (8) is an atomising sprayer (81), an ultrasonic atomiser (82), or a steamer (83).

9. On standing by, the power supply (6) is switched off.

10. Switch the polarity of the DC output of the power supply (6) to the desired polarity of ions. Note that when the + side of the switch is pushed down, the device will produce positive ions; when the - side of the switch is pushed down, the device will produce negative ions.

11. Switch the power supply (6) on, the device begins to produce positive or negative ions as selected.

12. It is anticipated that in the majority applications, only negative ions are desired. A simplified version of the embodiments is without the switch but with a fixed polarity connection to produce negative ions only.

.AHAS

1. A method for increasing negative ions in air, the method including: charging a conductive liquid; transforming the charged liquid into aerosol and gaseous states; and transporting the charged aerosol and vapour into air.

2. One embodiment of Claim 1 is a device, which includes a liquid container (5) and a power supply (6) to charge the liquid, an atomising sprayer (81) to transform the charged liquid into aerosol and gaseous states, and an opening (9) to transport the charged aerosol and vapour into air.

3. A device according to Claim 2, in which the ion generating technique applies a voltage to the inside of the liquid container (5) with the power supply (6) which is grounded and uses the sprayer (81) to generate ions, which generates positive ions when the liquid is positively charged, or generates negative ions when the liquid is negatively charged.

4. A device according to claim 2, in which an example of the power supply (6) includes an AC-DC adaptor and a switch which swaps the polarity of two DC output electrodes.

5. Another embodiment of Claim 1 is a device, which includes a liquid container (5) and a power supply (6) to charge the liquid, an ultrasonic atomiser (82) to transform the charged liquid into aerosol and gaseous states, and an opening (9) to transport the charged aerosol and vapour into air.

6. A device according to Claim 5, in which the ion generating technique applies a voltage to the inside of the liquid container (5) with the power supply (6) which is grounded and uses the atomiser (82) to generate ions, which generates positive ions when the liquid is positively charged, or generates negative ions when the liquid is negatively charged.

7. A device according to claim 5, in which an example of the power supply (6) includes an AC-DC adaptor and a switch which swaps the polarity of two DC output electrodes.

8. A third embodiment of Claim 1 is a device, which includes a liquid container (5) and a power supply (6) to charge the liquid, a steamer (83) to transform the charged liquid into aerosol and gaseous states, and an opening (9) to transport the charged aerosol and vapour into air.

9. A device according to Claim 8, in which the ion generating technique applies a voltage to the inside of the liquid container (5) with the power supply (6) which is grounded and uses the steamer (83) to generate ions, which generates positive ions when the liquid is positively charged, or generates negative ions when the liquid is negatively charged.

10. A device according to claim 8, in which an example of the power supply (6) includes an AC-DC adaptor and a switch which swaps the polarity of two DC output electrodes.

Claims

Clarity of claims

1. The Applicant's claims have been written with reference to WIPO Patent Drafting Manual for method ciaims. Comparing with the example included in the Manual, including has been used in the Applicant's claim 1 to include the essential features of the invention, instead of comprising as in the example.

If the Applicant's claim 1 must be written in the same structure as the one in the Examination Opinion, the Applicant's claim 1 is equivalent to the following:

A method for increasing negative ions in air by charging a conductive liquid; transforming the charged liquid into aerosol and gaseous state; and transporting the charged aerosol and vapour into air.

This is not an amendment to the Applicant's claims. S o the Applicant should not be required to pay an additional fee for any further searching.

Novelty or inventive step

2. Three documents are listed in the search report. However, all these three documents are wrongly categorised. The correct category for the three documents is A, which will be confirmed through the substantive examination. The Applicant's method is novel and inventive in that, following the steps as stated in the method, negative ions in air can be increased to be more than positive ions in air.

3. CN205878457 describes a humidification device with a so-called ion generating device. However, the device comprising a pair of electrodes submerged in water will work as an electrolysis cell, producing bubbles of oxygen or hydrogen, depending upon the polarisation of an electrode. A humidification device as described by CN205878457 can't increase negative ions in air to be more than positive ions in air.

4. WO2015154702 is more direct to describe the air humidifier comprises ...... and an electrolysis power source. Bubbles of oxygen or hydrogen produced by electrolysis should not be confused with negative ions. An air humidifier as described by WD2015154702 can't increase negative ions in air to be more than positive ions in air.

5. CN108870555 describes that through the ultrasonic negative ion atomizer, water is atomized to enable air entering the shell to generate a large number of negative ions. It neglects a fact that atomising water generates equal amounts of negative ions and positive ions, no matter if the phrase negative ion is added into the name of an ultrasonic atomizer or not. A bar as described by CH108870555 can't increase negative ions in air to be more than positive ions in air.

6. The Applicant should have no difficulty in obtaining a patent, because the proposed method is novel and inventive. The substantive examination will confirm that those three documents referred to in the search report do not describe any state of the art that has the ability to increase negative ions in air to be more than positive ions in air. The category for the three documents should be corrected to A, not the wrong X category.

7. Noted. As the Applicant's claims are not amended, further search is not necessary.