Conformable pleated air filter with bridging filaments

Abstract

A conformable, unframed, non-self-supporting pleated air filter, comprising: a conformable, unframed, non-self-supporting, pleated air filter media with an upstream face and a downstream face, wherein the conformable, unframed, non-self-supporting, pleated air filter media comprises a plurality of oppositely-facing pleats with a pleat direction and with a plurality of upstream pleat tips and upstream pleat valleys and downstream pleat tips and downstream pleat valleys, the pleated air filter media further comprising a plurality of bridging filaments on the downstream face of the pleated air filter media.

1 . A conformable, unframed, non-self-supporting pleated air filter, comprising:
 a conformable, unframed, non-self-supporting, pleated air filter media with an upstream face and a downstream face,
 wherein the conformable, unframed, non-self-supporting, pleated air filter media comprises a plurality of oppositely-facing pleats with a pleat direction and with a plurality of upstream pleat tips and upstream pleat valleys and downstream pleat tips and downstream pleat valleys, the pleated air filter media further comprising a plurality of bridging filaments on at least one face of the pleated air filter media,
 wherein at least some of the bridging filaments of the plurality of bridging filaments are in discontinuous contact with the upstream face of the pleated air filter media and are bonded to at least some of the upstream pleat tips; or, are in discontinuous contact with the downstream face of the pleated air filter media and are bonded to at least some of the downstream pleat tips. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The pleated air filter of  claim 1  wherein at least some of the bridging filaments are at least generally parallel to each other and are oriented at least generally orthogonal to the pleat direction. 
     
     
         3 . The pleated air filter of  claim 2  wherein the bridging filaments are at least essentially parallel to each other and comprise a spacing between filaments of from about 4 mm to about 25 mm. 
     
     
         4 . The pleated air filter of  claim 1  wherein at least some of the bridging filaments are in discontinuous contact with the upstream face of the pleated air filter media and are bonded to at least some of the upstream pleat tips, and wherein no bridging filaments are present on the downstream face of the pleated air filter media. 
     
     
         5 . The pleated air filter of  claim 1  wherein at least some of the bridging filaments are in discontinuous contact with the downstream face of the pleated air filter media and are bonded to at least some of the downstream pleat tips, and wherein no bridging filaments are present on the upstream face of the pleated air filter media. 
     
     
         6 . The pleated air filter of  claim 1  wherein the plurality of bridging filaments are provided in the form of a first set of bridging filaments at least some of which are in discontinuous contact with the downstream face of the pleated air filter media and are bonded to at least some of the downstream pleat tips; and, a second set of bridging filaments at least some of which are in discontinuous contact with the upstream face of the pleated air filter media and are bonded to at least some of the upstream pleat tips. 
     
     
         7 . The pleated air filter of  claim 1  wherein at least some of the bridging filaments are provided as part of a pre-existing scrim that is bonded to at least some of the upstream pleat tips or to at least some of the downstream pleat tips. 
     
     
         8 . The pleated air filter of  claim 1  wherein the pleats are sinusoidal pleats in which the upstream pleat tips and the downstream pleat tips each exhibit an average radius of curvature of at least about 2 mm and in which none of the upstream pleat tips nor downstream pleat tips are score-pleated. 
     
     
         9 . The pleated air filter of  claim 1  wherein the pleated air filter media is a compressible pleated air filter media. 
     
     
         10 . The pleated air filter of  claim 1  wherein the pleated air filter media comprises a nonwoven web comprising organic polymeric fibers at least some of which are electrostatically charged. 
     
     
         11 . The pleated air filter of  claim 1  wherein the pleated air filter is configured to be conformed to, and contacted with, an upstream face of a filter-support layer of an HVAC system. 
     
     
         12 . The pleated air filter of  claim 1  wherein the bridging filaments are comprised of an elastic material and wherein the pleated air filter is expandable from an unexpanded configuration in which the pleated air filter exhibits an unexpanded pleat spacing, to an expanded configuration in which the pleated air filter exhibits an expanded pleat spacing that is at least about 120% of the unexpanded pleat spacing. 
     
     
         13 . A kit comprising a plurality of pleated air filters of  claim 1  that are packaged together in the same package. 
     
     
         14 . An assembly for filtering air, the assembly comprising:
 an arcuate filter-support layer with an upstream face and a downstream face and with the pleated air filter of  claim 1  installed on an upstream face of the arcuate filter-support layer, wherein the arcuate filter-support layer is a removable or non-removable component of an HVAC system.   
     
     
         15 . The assembly of  claim 14  wherein the pleated air filter is in direct contact with the upstream face of the arcuate filter-support layer and wherein the pleated filter is attached to the arcuate filter-support layer. 
     
     
         16 . The assembly of  claim 14  wherein the assembly consists essentially of the arcuate filter-support layer with a single layer of the pleated air filter installed on the upstream face thereof. 
     
     
         17 . The assembly of  claim 14  further comprising a filter cover that is a removable or non-removable component of the HVAC system, wherein the filter cover is positioned on an upstream side of the pleated air filter and comprises through-openings therethrough. 
     
     
         18 . The assembly of  claim 17  wherein the pleated air filter comprises first and second corrugated edges and wherein when the pleated air filter, the arcuate filter-support layer, and the filter cover, are all in place in the HVAC system, at least one of the first and second corrugated edges of the pleated air filter is an unoccluded corrugated edge. 
     
     
         19 . The assembly of  claim 14  wherein the pleated air filter is smaller in size than the arcuate filter-support layer, so that the arcuate filter-support layer comprises a bypass area in which moving air can pass through the arcuate filter-support layer without having passed through the pleated air filter, which bypass area exhibits a size ranging from about 5% to about 30% of the total air-transmissive area of the arcuate filter-support layer. 
     
     
         20 . The assembly of  claim 14  wherein the HVAC system is a mini-split HVAC system that is not a centralized HVAC system. 
     
     
         21 . A method of filtering air, the method comprising:
 positioning a single layer of the pleated air filter of  claim 1  on an upstream side of an arcuate filter-support layer of an HVAC system; and, operating the HVAC system so that moving air is pulled through the single layer of the pleated air filter so as to filter the air pulled therethrough.