Air Cleaning Apparatus

Claim 1

Apparatus for cleaning air in textile mills and the like, comprising: elongate housing means; means for passing air from which particulate matter is to be removed through said housing means; a plurality of air-cleaning means disposed within and enclosed by said housing means for progressively cleaning the air during its passage through said housing means; said air-cleaning means including partial-cyclone means disposed within said housing means and comprising a generally C-shaped baffle member extending through an arc distance of no more than approximately 180* about a substantially horizontal axis; said means for passing air through said housing means including an inlet duct communicating with said housing means and said baffle member adjacent one end of said baffle member for directing incoming air and particulate matter substantially tangentally against the concave inner surface of said baffle member; adjustable velocity-regulating valve means within said housing means for regulating the velocity of air and entrained particulate matter introduced into such partial-cyclone means through said inlet duct, said valve means comprising a platelike member pivotally mounted within said inlet duct, and valve operating means connected to said plate-like member for varying the pivotal position thereof and for thereby varying the effective flow-area of said inlet duct; a purge outlet adjacent the end of said baffle member opposite from said one end thereof for receiving particulate matter directed thereto along said baffle member by centrifugal force; rotating-drum filter means disposed within said housing means downstream from said partial-cyclone means for receiving and further cleaning partially-cleaned air discharged from said partial-cyclone means, said drum filter means including a generally cylindrical drum rotatable about a central axis and having filter media extending about the generally cylindrical peripheral surface thereof for filtering the air passing therethrough and into said drum, and further having at least one open end for discharging the filtered air in a generally axial direction from said drum through said open end thereof; additional filtering means disposed within said housing means downstream from said drum filter means for receiving the air discharged from said drum-filter means and for further filtering the same prior to passage of the air from said housing means; particulate-matter separating means disposed exteriorally of said housing means; stripping means disposed within said housing means for stripping particulate matter from said media of said rotating-drum filter means; means including a plurality of conduits for conducting particulate matter from said purge outlet of said partialcyclone means and from said stripping meaNs associated with said rotating-drum filter means to said particulate-matter separating means; and a return conduit for returning exhaust air from said particulate matter separating means to the interior of said housing means at a location therein downstream from said partial-cyclone means and adjacent said rotating drum-filter means.