WO2021255759A1

WO2021255759A1 - A modular architectural light fixture for cleaning air pollutants and pathogens

Info

Publication number: WO2021255759A1
Application number: PCT/IN2021/050587
Authority: WO
Inventors: Abhay Mohan Wadhwa
Original assignee: Abhay Mohan Wadhwa
Priority date: 2020-06-17
Filing date: 2021-06-16
Publication date: 2021-12-23

Abstract

Disclosed herein a modular lighting apparatus (1) and a method for disinfecting air circulating in an area, wherein said apparatus (1) comprising a housing (2) provided with inlets(9) and outlets (10) for receiving in air containing pathogens and exiting out air free from pathogens, at least two blowers/wind tunnels (4) having ends coinciding with the inlet(9) and the outlet (10) of the housing (2), one or more UVC light source (8) secured within the wind tunnels (4), and wherein said at least two wind tunnels (4) cross-sectionally tapering along the horizontal are anti-parallelly and adjacently disposed within the housing (2), wherein fans provided on said inlet (9) and outlet side (10) are arithmetically dependent for actively pulling in the air containing pathogens from downward direction to create a vortex of air so as to augmenting it to run over the UVC light source(8) for efficiently exhausting out the disinfected air upwardly at an angle between 15 and 45 degrees from the horizontal (H).

Description

A Modular Architectural Light Fixture for Cleaning Air Pollutants and Pathogens

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a modular architectural lighting fixture for cleaning of air. More particularly, the fixture actively circulates the air by following a specific airflow pattern enabling a rapid and efficient cleaning of air within a predetermined area on a continual basis.

Background of the Invention

Epidemics and pandemics spare no country or regions. Humans are in the constant risk of being infected by deadly pathogens. So much so that it is affecting our day to day activities and we are forced to use various personal protection equipment to keep the pathogens at bay and stay healthy. The situation becomes even more dreadful when antidotes for infections caused by these pathogens not available. It is literally impossible avoid the spread of these pathogens if they are air borne.

There is a good possibility that the air surrounding us, especially in a confined space, contains numerous potentially health-threatening viruses and / or bacteria. People with an impaired immune system are more likely to get infected by such pathogens. Therefore, it is quintessential to have a system that cleanses the air in a confined space on real time.

In the past, there have been several ways devised to reduce the risk of transmission of air borne diseases. The most common ones were dilution and filtration of the surrounding air. Dilution only reduces the concentration of infectious pathogens in a space by increasing the amount of outside air brought into the confined space. Dilution does not destroy the bacteria, instead it reduces the probability of transmission by spreading the bacteria over a larger volume of air. Similarly, filtration reduces the concentration of pathogens in a space by passing the air through a High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter that traps pathogens and other particles, thereby removing them from circulation.

More importantly, all such disinfecting apparatus needs to be installed separately, occupies space and many time does not gel well with the decor of the area for e.g. in a office space or in a living room of a house.

None of the existing solution are actively making air completely free from pathogens in real time. Other than the above, there are various solutions that have been provided according to the existing arts, but all these solutions still have challenges existing because of their limited applications and inefficient functioning.

It is, therefore, important to work on the alternative solution to develop a way that obviates the complexity and challenges of the prior arts and capable of actively making air completely free from pathogens.

Description of the Invention

In this patent, the terms such as “cleaning of air” or “cleansing of air” or “disinfection of air” have substantially the similar meaning and need to be considered in the sense of disinfecting the air or making the air free of germs/pathogens/pollutants or making the air free of all those micro-organisms responsible for spreading air borne diseases.

The various objectives and embodiments of present invention as presented herein are understood to be illustrative and not restrictive and are non-limiting with respect to the scope of the invention.

It is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a Modular Architectural light fixture which is capable of cleaning the air without causing harm to humans.

It is one of the objectives of the present invention to provide a Modular Architectural light fixture that works at relatively a reduced power.

It is one of the objectives of the present invention to provide a Modular Architectural light fixture that is flexible/customizable as per the requirements of the user in terms of whether only light needs to be kept switched on or only cleaning needs to be kept switched on or both or none.

It is one of the objective of the present invention to provide a Modular Architectural light fixture which is capable of actively disinfecting the air and kill the germs in the air itself.

In accordance with a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a Modular Architectural light fixture comprises a double decker housing for producing light, inducing flow of air currents coupled with emitting light of required wavelengths and circulating the same along with air in the surrounding, wherein, said double decker housing is having an upper layer that induces and circulates the flow of air currents coupled with required wavelength, and a lower layer that produces light and illuminates the surrounding, wherein, the height of the double decker housing from the ground is sufficiently high such that humans never come in contact with the emitted wavelength.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a Modular Architectural light fixture comprising a double decker housing for producing light, inducing flow of air currents coupled with emitting light of required wavelengths and circulating the same along with air in the surrounding, wherein, said double decker housing is having an upper layer that induces and circulates the flow of air currents coupled with required wavelength, and a lower layer that produces light and illuminates the surrounding, wherein, the height of the double decker housing from the ground is sufficiently high such that humans never come in contact with the emitted wavelength and wherein the architectural fixture and light is preferably wall mounted or hanged from ceiling.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a Modular Architectural light fixture comprises a double decker housing for producing light, inducing flow of air currents coupled with emitting light of required wavelengths and circulating the same along with air in the surrounding, wherein, said double decker housing is having an upper layer that induces and circulates the flow of air currents coupled with required wavelength, and a lower layer that produces light and illuminates the surrounding, wherein, the height of the double decker housing from the ground is sufficiently high such that humans never come in contact with the emitted wavelength, wherein said architectural fixture and light is preferably wall mounted or hanged from ceiling, wherein the architectural fixture and light is powered from its in-built battery or electricity is being supplied from external wired connection or is provided replaceable battery system or their combination thereof.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a Modular Architectural light fixture comprises of a double decker housing for producing light, inducing flow of air currents coupled with emitting light of required wavelengths and circulating the same along with air in the surrounding, wherein, said double decker housing is having an upper layer that induces and circulates the flow of air currents coupled with required wavelength, wherein, upper layer further comprises of an ultraviolet (UV) light source capable of emitting light rays at a required wavelength which when coupled with the flow of air currents is having an ability to disinfect the surrounding air and upper layer comprises of a fan assembly for creating the flow of air currents by drawing in the air present from the surrounding and discharging out the same along with the required UV light wavelengths thus enabling disinfection of air surrounding and lower layer comprises of a light source capable of illuminating the surrounding, wherein, drawing in of air preferably takes places from the top surface of the upper layer and discharging of air is taking place laterally, horizontally and vertically.

In accordance with above embodiment of the present invention, wherein, said flow of air currents is preferably an air microcurrent generated by the fan assembly through one or more louvers enabling the exchange of air to take place on micron level, thereby, the air containing pathogens in the air microcurrents coupled with the required UV wavelengths are disinfected till micron level.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a Modular Architectural light fixture comprises of a double decker housing for producing light, inducing flow of air currents coupled with emitting light of required wavelengths and circulating the same along with air in the surrounding, wherein, said double decker housing is having an upper layer that induces and circulates the flow of air currents coupled with required wavelength, wherein, upper layer further comprises of an ultraviolet (UV) light source capable of emitting light rays at a required wavelength which when coupled with the flow of air currents is having an ability to disinfect the surrounding air, and upper layer comprises of a fan assembly for creating the flow of air currents by drawing in the air present from the surrounding and discharging out the same along with the required UV light wavelengths thus enabling disinfection of air surrounding, wherein, fan assembly further comprises of pluralities of fans on the top surface and sideways of the upper layer, wherein, said fans are employed with one or more louvers on the front portion of the upper layer, thereby deviating the discharge of air along with the required UV light wavelength through the louvers for disinfecting the surrounding air.

In accordance with just above embodiment of the present invention, wherein, louvers are inclined at an angle that ensures the discharge of air along with UV light wavelength in a direction away from the reach of humans.

In accordance with any of the above embodiment of the present invention, wherein said double decker housing is provided with multiple electrical switches for regulating the operation of the upper and lower layer in terms of keeping the light source of lower layer on or off, maintaining the flow of air currents coupled with emitting required wavelengths from UV light source and detecting the presence of any human in the path of UV light rays.

In accordance with any of the above embodiment of the present invention, wherein, the double decker housing is provided with pluralities of sensors for sensing the presence of any human in the path of UV light rays, if, at any time, during when the architectural fixture and light is operational, the presence of any human is detected by the sensors, one of the electrical switch called as “Kill Switch” is automatically disabled to cut-off the flow of air currents, emission of required wavelength from the UV light source and light source illuminating the surrounding.

In accordance with one of the above embodiments of the present invention, wherein the required wavelength emitted in the form UV light rays from the UV light source is in a range of 100 to 300 nm, which is capable of actively disinfecting the surrounding air with the help of operating currents.

Referring the accompanying drawings are provided herein illustrating the further understanding of the present disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this provisional specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, however, the same will be further expanded within the scope of the disclosure and serve to explain the principles of the present invention.

While this provisional specification has been described covering the scope of the present invention in detail with reference to certain aspect and embodiments, it should be appreciated that the present provisional specification is not limited to those precise aspects and embodiments and can be modified within the scope of the present invention while filing a complete application.

A Modular Architectural Light Fixture for Cleaning Air Pollutants and Pathogens

Abstract of the invention

Disclosed herein a Modular Architectural light fixture comprises of double decker housing for producing light, inducing flow of air currents coupled with emitting light of required wavelengths and circulating the same along with air in the surrounding, wherein said flow of air currents is preferably an air microcurrent generated by a fan assembly through one or more louvers enabling the exchange of air to take place on micron level, thereby, the air containing pathogens in the air microcurrents coupled with the required UV wavelengths are disinfected till micron level, wherein, the double decker housing is provided with the fan assembly, one or more louvers and one or more UV light source for emitting required UV wavelengths.

Applicant: WADHWA, Abhay Mohan Sheet 1 of 1

Figure 1

A Modular Lighting Apparatus for Disinfecting Air and Method Thereof

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a modular lighting apparatus for the disinfection of surrounding air. More particularly, the apparatus actively circulates the air by following a specific airflow pattern enabling rapid and efficient disinfection of air within a predetermined area continually.

Background of the Invention

Epidemics and pandemics spare no country or region. Humans are at constant risk of being infected by deadly pathogens. So much so that it is affecting our day-to-day activities and we are forced to use various personal protection equipment to keep the pathogens at bay and stay healthy. The situation becomes even more dreadful when antidotes for infections caused by these pathogens are not available. It is impossible to avoid the spread of these pathogens if they are airborne.

There is a good possibility that the air surrounding us, especially in a confined space, contains numerous potentially health-threatening viruses and/or bacteria. People with an impaired immune system are more likely to get infected by such pathogens. Therefore, it is quintessential to have a system that disinfects the air in a confined space in real-time.

In the past, there have been several ways devised to reduce the risk of transmission of airborne diseases. The most common ones were dilution and filtration of the surrounding air. Dilution only reduces the concentration of infectious pathogens in space by increasing the amount of outside air brought into the confined space. Dilution does not destroy the bacteria, instead it reduces the probability of transmission by spreading the bacteria over a larger volume of air. Similarly, filtration reduces the concentration of pathogens in space by passing the air through a High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter that traps pathogens and other particles, thereby removing them from circulation.

More importantly, all such disinfecting apparatus need to be installed separately, all while occupying space and most of the time they do not go well with the decor of the area, for example - in an office space or a living room of a house.

Below are the details of a few prior arts in the relevance of the present disclosure: US6264888B1 discloses a germicidal method and apparatus for destroying airborne pathogenic bacteria such as tuberculosis bacteria using ultraviolet light. Air is drawn through a filter and into a sterilization chamber that is irradiated with ultraviolet light, and out through an exhaust opening. Consideration forthe characteristics of the room in which the apparatus is installed and the positioning of the installation allows effective prevention of transmission of disease through expectoration and inhalation of airborne microdroplets of bacteria-containing sputum. The filter is of the low-density type which traps large particulates, but not small particulates of the size of the microdroplets, so that the filter does not become a bacteria colonization site. Baffles on the air intake opening and air exhaust opening to prevent ultraviolet light from escaping into the environment. The sterilization chamber is constructed such that the air passes the ultraviolet light bulbs twice as it circulates therethrough.

US20170321877A1 discloses a wall or surface-mounted light fixture with a housing containing one or more external visible light sources to illuminate the space where the light fixture is mounted, one or more UV emitters inside the housing to destroy bacteria and pathogens, and one or more fans inside the housing that recirculate the air in a space and subject the air to the UV radiation inside the housing, destroying bacteria and pathogens in the air passing through the housing.

US5112370A discloses a device for sterilizing a forced air flow by means of ultraviolet radiations, comprising an elongated housing provided with reflecting inner surfaces accommodating at least an ultraviolet radiations source and a fan for sucking air into the device and sending it out after being subjected to the ultraviolet radiation in an air flow passage. The device provides at each ends means for shielding and absorbing the ultraviolet radiation to prevent the dispersion thereof outside the device, made up by an optical labyrinth formed by parallel and spaced fins. In an embodiment to be applied to an air conditioning plant, the device does not include a fan and the input opening is shaped for being fitted the output of an air conditioning duct.

US4786812A discloses a lightweight and portable germ-killing machine. The machine has a plurality of ultraviolet light bulbs fixed inside of a protective, and light-shielding, housing, and adjacent to a reflective surface with air passageways therein. A fan is located above the reflective surface and draws air from around the housing towards, and around, the lightbulbs thereby killing any germs floating therein. Filters are located along the sides and underside to block out potentially damaging items. US3846072A discloses an ultraviolet lamp fixture for purifying the air within a room, said fixture comprising a housing having means for suspending said fixture from the ceiling of said room, the bottom wall of said housing having a longitudinally extending opening defining an air inlet through which the air in said room is communicated to the interior of said fixture, an elongated ultraviolet ray tube mounted in said housing above said air inlet; a longitudinally disposed air deflector wall mounted in said housing above said tube, the opposite longitudinal ends of said deflector wall being longitudinally space from the end walls of said housing, said longitudinal ends of said deflector wall and terminating in an intake opening; a motorized fan supported by the top wall of said fixture housing and disposed immediately above said deflector wall intake opening for positively moving air from said room into said housing at said air inlet end and through said longitudinal wall intake opening to the space behind said deflector wall, said housing having a plurality of apertures on said opposite longitudinal end walls and said top wall for exhausting air from said space to said room, a portion of said air flowing through said space passing between said end walls and said opposite ends of said deflector wall for recirculation through said intake opening, whereby all of the air entering said housing through said air inlet is passed over said tube and the stream of air entering said housing and exhausted back to said room is purified by the radiation emitted by said tube.

In all the above prior arts, the light fixture or the device or the apparatus provided for disinfecting air using ultraviolet radiations are incapable of disinfecting the air containing pathogens actively due to their linear and uniform structure. In order to overcome this, there have been attempts to incorporate additional equipment such as multiple blowers or fans or a single blower or fan of a higher power, but this involves high power consumption that makes the light fixture not eco-friendly, and heavier, thereby making it costly. Due to the simple and plain structure of the light fixture, the air is enabled to flow through the light fixture or device or apparatus passively and also the airflow pattern is such that the rate of entry of air containing pathogens is incoherent with the rate of disinfection within the light fixture, thus rendering the light fixture inefficient. There is an attempt to provide a light fixture with variable cross-section across its length, but that is to accommodate the baffles inside it to prevent ultraviolet light from escaping into the environment, which also enables passing of the air containing pathogens over the light bulb twice for complete disinfection of the air. This is a time-consuming and complicated process, and in addition, disinfects the same volume of air repeatedly as the inlet and outlet of the light fixture are parallelly located causing the same volume of air to pass through the light fixture which is disinfected a few moments ago.

None of the existing solutions are actively making air completely free from pathogens in realtime. Other than the above, various solutions have been provided according to the existing arts, but all these solutions still have existing challenges because of their limited applications, involvement of additional and complicated equipment, cost-ineffectiveness, and inefficient functioning.

It is, therefore, important to work on the alternative solution to develop a way that obviates the complexity and challenges of the prior arts and is capable of actively making air completely free from pathogens.

Summary of the Invention

In this patent, the term “disinfection” needs to be considered in the sense of making the air free of germs/pathogens or making the air free of all those airborne micro-organisms responsible for spreading diseases.

The term “air containing pathogens” has been used in various embodiments, paragraphs and claims of the present invention, which refers to the air containing a significant amount of pathogens/germs or containing pathogens/germs more than the air exhausted out from the outlet, and adapted to be always sucked in by the inlet for disinfecting.

The term “surrounding” has been used in various embodiments, paragraphs and claims of the present invention, which refers to any space containing pathogens/germs.

Terms such as blowers and wind tunnels have been used in various embodiments, paragraphs and claims of the present invention, and has been interchangeably used and should be understood and interpreted to have the same meaning.

It is an objective of the present invention to provide a modular lighting apparatus that is capable of disinfecting the air without harming the user.

It is one of the objectives of the present invention to provide a modular lighting apparatus and method which is capable of efficiently disinfecting a definite space by killing the pathogens in the minimum time possible.

It is one of the objectives of the present invention to provide a modular lighting apparatus that works at a relatively reduced power. It is one of the objectives of the present invention to provide a modular lighting apparatus that is flexible/customizable as per the requirements of the user that is, whether the complete modular lighting apparatus is to be kept on or just the disinfecting or only the light.

It is one of the objectives of the present invention to provide a modular lighting apparatus and a method for disinfecting a definite space that ensures disinfection of surrounding air in a chronological order of its pathogen content.

The various objectives and embodiments of the present invention as presented herein are understood to be illustrative and not restrictive and are non-limiting to the scope of the invention.

In accordance with a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a modular lighting apparatus for disinfecting surrounding air comprises a housing provided with inlets and outlets for receiving in air containing pathogens at a certain volumetric rate and exiting out the disinfected air at another volumetric rate, at least two blowers, each having a downwardly oriented vent and an upwardly oriented vent, wherein said downwardly oriented vent coincides with the inlet and said upwardly oriented vent coincides with the outlet of the housing, one or more ultraviolet light source secured in the blower across its horizontal length and wherein at least two blowers are anti-parallelly and adjacently disposed within the housing, and cross-sectionally tapering from the inlet towards the outlet of the housing for actively pulling in the air containing pathogens to create a vortex of air so as to augmenting the air pulled in to run over the ultraviolet light source for efficiently exhausting out the disinfected air upwardly at various angles.

In accordance with above embodiment of the present invention, wherein said downwardly oriented vent and upwardly oriented vent are provided with fans for pulling in the air containing pathogens and exhausting out the disinfected air and wherein said downwardly oriented vent coinciding with the inlet is diametrically bigger than the upwardly oriented vent coinciding with the outlet so as to sufficiently prolong the duration of exposure of air containing pathogens to the ultraviolet light source for optimum disinfection.

In accordance with above embodiment of the present invention, wherein said fans provided at the downwardly oriented vent coinciding with the inlet is bigger than the fans provided at the upwardly oriented vent coinciding with the outlet so as to sufficiently prolong the duration of exposure of air containing pathogens to the ultraviolet light source for optimum disinfection. In accordance with a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a modular lighting apparatus for disinfecting the surrounding air comprises a housing provided with inlets and outlets for receiving in air containing pathogens at a certain volumetric rate and exiting out the disinfected air at another volumetric rate, at least two blowers, each having a downwardly oriented vent and an upwardly oriented vent, wherein said downwardly oriented vent coincides with the inlet and said upwardly oriented vent coincides with the outlet of the housing, one or more UVC light source secured in the blower across its horizontal length and wherein said at least two blowers are anti-parallelly and adjacently disposed along the horizontal within the housing, and cross-sectionally tapering from the inlet towards the outlet of the housing for actively pulling in the air containing pathogens to create a vortex of air so as to augmenting it to run over the UVC light source for efficiently exhausting out the disinfected air upwardly at various angles, wherein said upwardly oriented vent of the blower makes an angle between 15 and 45 degrees with the horizontal and exhausts out the disinfected air at the same angle with the horizontal.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein said upwardly oriented vent makes an angle of 30 degrees with the horizontal and exhausts out the disinfected air at the same angle with the horizontal and/or wherein said upwardly oriented vent makes an angle of 120 degrees with the downwardly oriented vent horizontal and exhausts out the disinfected air at the same angle with respect to the direction in which the air containing pathogens is pulled in through the downwardly oriented vent.

In accordance with a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a modular lighting apparatus for disinfecting surrounding air comprises a housing provided with inlets and outlets for receiving in air containing pathogens at a certain volumetric rate and exiting out the disinfected air at another volumetric rate, at least two blowers, each having a downwardly oriented vent and an upwardly oriented vent, wherein said downwardly oriented vent coincides with the inlet and said upwardly oriented vent coincides with the outlet of the housing, one or more UVC light source secured in the blower across its horizontal length and wherein said at least two blowers are anti-parallelly and adjacently disposed along the horizontal within the housing, and cross-sectionally tapering from the inlet towards the outlet of the housing for actively pulling in the air containing pathogens to create a vortex of air so as to augmenting it to run over the UVC light source for efficiently exhausting out the disinfected air upwardly at various angles, wherein said housing is provided with a sensor configured to sense the presence of any obstacle, if any, at a level of the apparatus or above it and wherein a light source is affixed to the housing for illuminating the space around the lighting apparatus. In accordance with one of the above embodiments of the present invention, wherein said fans running at definite angular speeds on the inlet and outlet couples with the tapering cross section of the blower so as to augment the vortex of air by generating air micro-currents through the blowers for efficient disinfection of the air containing pathogens at an optimum volumetric rate.

In accordance with one of the above embodiments of the present invention, wherein the certain volumetric rate at which the air containing pathogens is pulled in at the inlet and another volumetric rate of disinfected air exhausted out from the outlet are consecutive Fibonacci Numbers in magnitude and/or wherein the certain volumetric rate at which the air containing pathogens is pulled in at the inlet is 1.6 to 1 .7 times the other volumetric rate of disinfected air exhausted out from the outlet.

In this invention, the lighting apparatus is powered from its in-built battery or external electricity supplied via wired connection or replaceable battery or its combination to enable switching power modes as per the requirement.

In accordance with one of the above embodiments of the present invention, wherein said UVC light source emits wavelengths in a range of 100 to 300 nm.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method for disinfecting surrounding air through a lighting apparatus having an UVC light source comprising pulling in air containing pathogens from at least two inlets of the lighting apparatus at a certain volumetric rate, advancing the air containing pathogens through tapering cross-sections of the lighting apparatus for creating a vortex of air along the horizontal length of the lighting apparatus, exposing the vortex of air to the UVC light source for disinfecting the air containing pathogens efficiently and exhausting out the disinfected air upwardly through at least two outlets of the lighting apparatus at another volumetric rate at various angles, and wherein the method comprises of disinfecting the air containing pathogens efficiently to augmenting the air flow by creating the vortex of air through the tapering cross sections of the lighting apparatus, wherein pulling in of the air containing pathogens through the inlets and exhausting out of the disinfected air through the outlets are anti-parallelly and adjacently disposed along the horizontal within the housing.

In accordance with the above exemplary embodiment of the present invention, wherein said method comprises of creating the vortex of air through the tapering cross sections so as to sufficiently prolong the duration of exposure of air containing pathogens to the UVC light source for optimum disinfection. In accordance with the above exemplary embodiment of the present invention, wherein said method comprises of exhausting out the disinfected air through the outlets at an angle between 15 and 45 degrees with the horizontal.

In accordance with the above exemplary embodiment of the present invention, wherein said method comprises of exhausting out the disinfected air through the outlets at an angle between 30 degrees with the horizontal and/or wherein said exhausting out of the disinfected air through the outlets makes an angle of 120 degrees with the pulling in of the air containing pathogens through the inlets.

In accordance with the above exemplary embodiment of the present invention, wherein said method comprises of generating air micro-currents employing pulling in the air containing pathogens at the certain volumetric rate on the inlets and coupling with the tapering cross section of the apparatus so as to augment the vortex of air for efficiently disinfecting the air containing pathogens and exhausting out the disinfected air at another volumetric rate through the outlets.

In accordance with the above exemplary embodiment of the present invention, wherein said method comprises of illuminating the space around the lighting apparatus employing a light source.

In accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method for disinfecting surrounding air through a lighting apparatus having an UVC light source comprising pulling in air containing pathogens from at least two inlets of the lighting apparatus at a certain volumetric rate, advancing the air containing pathogens through tapering cross-sections of the lighting apparatus for creating a vortex of air along the horizontal length of the lighting apparatus, exposing the vortex of air to the UVC light source for disinfecting the air containing pathogens efficiently and exhausting out the disinfected air upwardly through at least two outlets of the lighting apparatus at another volumetric rate at various angles, and wherein the method comprises of disinfecting the air containing pathogens efficiently to augmenting the air flow by creating the vortex of air through the tapering cross sections of the lighting apparatus, wherein pulling in of the air containing pathogens through the inlets and exhausting out of the disinfected air through the outlets are anti-parallelly and adjacently disposed along the horizontal within the housing, wherein the certain volumetric rate at which the air containing pathogens is pulled in at the inlet and another volumetric rate of disinfected air exhausted out from the outlet are consecutive Fibonacci Numbers in magnitude and/or wherein the certain volumetric rate at which the air containing pathogens is pulled in at the inlet is 1 .6 to 1.7 times the another volumetric rate of disinfected air exhausted out from the outlet. In accordance with one of the above embodiments of the present invention, wherein said method comprises of sensing of presence of any obstacle, if any, at a level of the lighting apparatus or above it.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 shows a front view illustrating internal components of the lighting apparatus.

Figure 2 shows a front view for the arrangement of wind tunnels or blowers relative to each other and its side view.

Figure 3a shows the relative cross-sectional placement of the wind tunnels/blowers.

Figure 3b shows the perspective view for the arrangement of wind tunnels or blowers relative to each other.

Figure 4a shows the perspective bottom view of the lighting apparatus.

Figure 4b shows the bottom view of the lighting apparatus.

Figure 4c shows the perspective top view of the lighting apparatus.

Figure 5a shows the side view of the lighting apparatus.

Figure 5b shows the side view of the lighting apparatus illustrating the side cross-sectional view of the wind tunnels.

Figure 6 shows the exploded view of the lighting apparatus.

Detailed Description of the Invention

In accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a system for disinfecting a definite area comprising a plurality of modular lighting apparatus, wherein each said modular lighting apparatus is made to be hanging from the ceiling and arranged in a particular configuration that helps in inducing flow of air currents coupled with emitting UVC light of wavelengths ranging between 100-300 nm to disinfect the air containing pathogens and exhaust out the disinfected air for circulating the same in the definite area, wherein, the height of the each hanging lighting apparatus from the ground is sufficiently high such that humans never come in contact with the emitted wavelength.

In accordance with above embodiment of the present invention, wherein, said flow of air microcurrents is preferably an air microcurrent generated by the blowers and reinforced by the variable cross section of the blowers producing a wind tunnel effect and enabling the exchange of air to take place on micron level, thereby, the air containing pathogens in the air microcurrents gets exposed to the UV wavelengths sufficiently to get disinfected till micron level.

In accordance with one of the above embodiments of the present invention, wherein said lighting apparatus is provided with multiple electrical switches for regulating its operation in terms of keeping the light source on or off, maintaining the flow of air currents coupled with emitting required wavelengths from UV light source and detecting the presence of any obstacle in a close proximity of the lighting apparatus.

In accordance with any of the above embodiment of the present invention, wherein, for safety purposes, the said lighting apparatus is provided with one or more of sensors for sensing the presence of any obstacle, preferably humans, in the path of UV light rays coming out of the apparatus. If, at any time, during when the apparatus is operational, the presence of any human is detected by the sensors, one of the electrical switches called as “Kill Switch” is automatically disables the emission of the wavelengths from the UV light source, flow of air currents and the light source illuminating the surrounding or optionally only the emission of UV wavelength is stopped.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a lighting apparatus which is an upper irradiation system capable of neutralizing pathogens present in the air by directing the pathogen containing air to travel through the blowers (also referred as wind tunnels in this invention) functionally serving as wind tunnels, wherein the wind tunnels are internally provided with UVC light source, preferably UVC LED strips along its horizontal length and are designed to enable the lighting apparatus to generally receive a certain volume of air via the inlet which is relatively more or equally pathogenic as compared to the same volume of the air in other parts of the surrounding, thereby avoiding the circulation of the same disinfected air through the wind tunnel, which is just exhausted out from the outlet, and hence causing the relatively more air containing pathogens to selectively get pulled into the wind tunnel before the same disinfected air is re-circulated through the wind tunnel for a rapid and an efficient disinfection of the given space area. This provides a healthier indoor environment in a very short period of time. Alongside, the addition of an elegant light source to the lighting apparatus makes the aesthetically pleasing.

According to the present invention, in order to develop the lighting apparatus for efficiently disinfecting a given area of space which would better utilize the energy inputs, there are a few parameters that have been taken into consideration, wherein said parameters are but not limited to diameters of inlet and outlet of the housing, diameter of the inlet and outlet vents of the blowers/wind tunnels, the overall length of the wind tunnels, the length of exposure needed for pathogens to be neutralized by the UVC light or simply the length of UVC LED strips along the horizontal length of the wind tunnel, the angular speed of the fans at inlet and outlet of the wind tunnels, angle of the upwardly and downwardly oriented vents of the wind tunnel with the horizontal, angle with the horizontal at which the disinfected air is exhausted out and the resistance offered by the pathogens. It is possible to effectively sanitizing the environment of the given area of space by obtaining the most optimal measurements of the above-mentioned parameters for the disclosed lighting apparatus through the usage of Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI), which is also enabling the apparatus to minimize the leakage of purified/sterilized air.

In accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a lighting apparatus for an area of 100 or 120 sq. ft., comprising a housing housed with two wind tunnels anti-parallelly and adjacently disposed along the horizontal, having two downwardly oriented vents fitted with fans, wherein it is to be ensured that the fans used on the inlet vent of the wind tunnels/blowers pulls in at least 1 cubic foot per minute (CFM) of air containing pathogens per sq. ft. of the environment, wherein the diameter of the fans used on the inlet vent and outlet vent are respectively 6” providing a power of 33 HP and 4” providing a power of 53.2 HP to adequately cover an area of 100 or 120 sq. ft. of the environment by pulling at least 100 CFM of the air containing pathogens from the inlets via the downwardly oriented vents at an angle of 90 degrees with the horizontal and enabling it to pass through the wavelengths in a range of 250-280 nm emitted by the UVC light over its length of 3 feet for full neutralization of the pathogens and further exiting out the disinfected air from the outlets via the upwardly oriented vents at an angle of 27 degrees with the horizontal, wherein the wind tunnels are anti-parallelly and adjacently disposed along the horizontal within an estimated 4 feet long enclosure having varying inlet and outlet tunnel diameter (6” and 4”) to prolong air exposure time for maximizing the disinfection, wherein the horizontal length of the housing is more than 4 feet but less than 5 feet, wherein the fans fitted in the wind tunnels preferably runs at an angular speed of 2930 rpm.

In accordance with the above exemplary embodiment of the present invention, wherein the effect of the UVC light for sterilizing pathogens varies because the pathogens offer resistance and mainly depends on but not limited to the germicidal dose, exposure time, UVC intensity, exposure distance and pathogen’s susceptibility to UVC. Therefore, for this purpose, UVC LED strip of 15W are flexible and suggested/sufficient to be placed alongside the interior of the wind tunnels for emitting wavelengths in a range of 250-280 nm, however, it is noted that the peak efficiency for disinfection is achieved at the wavelength of 265 nm. Also, the suggested LED strip for UVC light is having 3.6 feet length and provided with a power of 14.4W and emits wavelength of 270 nm.

Regardless of the above exemplary embodiment, it is estimated that at an exposure distance of approximately 6 inches from the UVC light distance, 99% of the pathogens are sterilized within 10 seconds of the exposure, thereby completely disinfecting the closed space of 100 sq. ft. within 30 to 60 minutes by recirculating and repetitively exposing the partially sterilized air to the UVC light to achieve 100% disinfection of the air in the closed space of 100 sq. ft.

In accordance with one of the above exemplary embodiments of the present invention, parameters such as diameter of the inlets and outlets of the housing, diameter of the inlet and outlet vents of the blowers/wind tunnels, the overall length of the wind tunnels, the length of exposure needed for pathogens to be neutralized by the UVC light or simply the length of UVC LED strips along the horizontal length of the wind tunnel, the angular speed of the fans at inlet and outlet of the wind tunnels, angle of the upwardly and downwardly oriented vents of the wind tunnel with the horizontal, and the angle with the horizontal at which the disinfected air is exhausted out are proportionately varied depending upon the given area of space by obtaining their most optimal measurements so as to maintain the ratio of the volumetric rate at which the air containing pathogens on the inlets is pulled to the volumetric rate at which the disinfected air on the outlets is exhausted out between 1 .6 to 1 .7 or maintaining the magnitude of volumetric rate at inlets and outlets as consecutive Fibonacci sequence.

In accordance with one exemplary embodiments of the present invention as disclosed in Figure 1 , a lighting apparatus (1) as seen from the front view or back view is shown, further comprising a housing (2) vertically supported by two equidistant supports (3) from the top of the housing (2) against the ceiling, wherein the housing (2) is housed with two blowers/wind tunnels (4) placed adjacently with each other along the horizontal length of the housing (2), wherein each wind tunnel (4) is divided into 2 parts - inlet tube (4a) and outlet tube (4b), wherein the inlet tube (4a) and the outlet tube (4b) are provided with a downwardly oriented vent (5) and an upwardly oriented vent (6), wherein said downwardly oriented vent (5) coincides with the inlet (9) and said upwardly oriented vent (6) coincides with the outlet (10) of the housing. The downwardly oriented vent (5) and the upwardly oriented vent (6) are provided with fans (7a and 7b) for pulling in the air containing pathogens and exiting out the disinfected air, wherein, interior of the blowers (4) is provided with UVC light Source (8) along its horizontal length for disinfection of the pathogens containing air, wherein the UVC light Source (8) is preferably LED UVC strips and also the apparatus (1) can be provided with a light source (13) on its exterior bottom along its horizontal length for illuminating the space around it. Also, power sources (11) for driving the fans at a desired angular speed is provided just horizontally next to the end of the LED UVC strips. There are sensors (12) provided on the side bottom of the housing (2) for detecting the presence of any obstacle at its height or above it. In case an obstacle, preferably a human is detected in the close proximity of the apparatus, the sensors (12) immediately signal to switch off the UVC light (8).

Referring to the Figure 2, 3a and 3b, the wind tunnels/blowers (4) shown are anti-parallelly and adjacently disposed along the horizontal with respect to each other, the fans (7a) provided at the downwardly oriented vents (5) in the inlet tube region (4a) is diametrically bigger than the fans (7b) provided at the upwardly oriented vent (6) in the outlet tube region (4b), wherein the inlet tube region (4a) of the wind tunnels (4) is bent and has an inverted U-shape (4a) for pulling in the air containing pathogens from the downward direction through the downwardly oriented vents (5), wherein the outlet tube region (4b) is formed linearly and upwardly by extending the end point of the inlet tube region (4a) for exiting the disinfected air via the upwardly oriented vent (6), wherein the outlet tube region (4b) is cross-sectionally tapered along the horizontal length of the wind tunnel (4) for prolonging the exposure time and made to be raised above the horizontal (H) by some angles (Q) for exiting out the disinfected air away from the pulled in air containing pathogens and to enable the lighting apparatus (1) to generally receive a certain volume of air via the inlet (9) which is relatively more or equally pathogenic as compared to the same volume of the air in other parts of the surrounding, thereby avoiding the circulation of the same disinfected air through the wind tunnels (4), which is just exhausted out from the outlet (10), and hence causing the relatively more air containing pathogens to selectively get pulled into the wind tunnels (4) before the same disinfected air is re-circulated through the wind tunnel fora rapid and an efficient disinfection of the given space area, wherein the UVC light Source (8) is secured on the bottom of the interior of the wind tunnels (4) along its horizontal length in the outlet tube region (4b). Also, a side view of the anti-parallel and adjacent placement along the horizontal of the wind tunnels (4) is shown, wherein the bent portion forming the inverted U-shape (4a) of the wind tunnel (4) for pulling in the air containing pathogens is located adjacent to the raised portion (4b) above the horizontal (H) for exiting out the disinfected air and same is the view on the other side for the anti-parallel and adjacent placement of the wind tunnels (4). The diameter of the inlet tube region (4a) and of its respective fan (7a) is bigger than the diameter of the outlet tube region (4b) and its respective fan (7b) and this further contributes to enhancing the exposure time for the pulled in air through the downwardly oriented vents (5) and creating vortex of air to augment the flow of air through the wind tunnel (4).

Referring to Figure 4a, showing bottom perspective view of the lighting apparatus (1) hanging from the ceiling with the help of supports (3) across the horizontal ends of the apparatus. Fans are situated on the inlets (9) of the housing (1) that coincides with the downwardly oriented vents (5) of the blowers (4) for pulling in the air containing pathogens from the downward direction. An outlet (10) in the housing (2) coinciding with the upwardly oriented vents (6) of the blower (4) is provided on the sides of the housing (2). Enclosures (13) are provided within the housing (2) for containing the wind tunnels (4) in an anti-parallel manner, wherein a horizontal space (14) is provided between the enclosures (13) on the exterior bottom of the housing (2) for mounting a light source (15) so as to illuminating the surrounding area.

Figure 4a can also be viewed as top perspective view of the open lighting apparatus showing its internal structure, wherein the fans (7a) on the inlet (9) are located on the two opposite corners of the housing (2) for pulling in the air containing pathogens from the surrounding.

Referring to Figure 4b, showing the bottom view of the lighting apparatus (1), wherein the upper left and bottom right corners are the housing’s inlets (9) coinciding with the downwardly oriented vents (5) provided with the fans (7a) for pulling in the air containing pathogens. The upper middle and lower middle part forms the bottom portion of the enclosure (13) in which the wind tunnels (4) are housed from the top in an anti-parallel manner, wherein the middle portion is a horizontal space (14), where a light source (15) can be horizontally affixed for illuminating the surrounding.

Referring to Figure 4c, showing the perspective view of the lighting apparatus (1) hanging horizontally and vertically supported from the ceiling and provided with the outlets (10) on sides of the housing (2) for exiting out the disinfected air. The lighting apparatus (1) is modular as its overall dimensions can be varied depending on the area in which it is to be installed and accordingly the dimension and parameters for the fans (7a and 7b), UVC light (8) and light source (15), wind tunnels (4), power source (11), sensors (12), inlets (9), outlets (10), and supports (2), etc. can be modified.

Figure 5a shows the side view of the lighting apparatus (1), wherein the upwardly oriented vent (6) coincides with the outlet (10) on both of its side, wherein the fan (7b) is provided at the upwardly oriented vent of the wind tunnel (5) above horizontal (5), wherein the housing (2) is supported from the ceiling with the help of support. The sensor (12) is provided on the exterior side bottom of the housing for detecting the presence of obstacles in its close proximity. Figure 5b shows the side view of the lighting apparatus (1) illustrating the internal arrangement of the apparatus’s components, wind tunnels (4) are anti-parallelly and adjacently disposed inside the enclosures (13), having UVC light sources (8) placed on the bottom of the interior of the wind tunnels (4) along the horizontal length of the apparatus (1) supported from the ceiling, wherein a light source (15) for illuminating the nearby space is affixed on the bottom of the housing (2) between the left and right side of the enclosure (13).

Figure 6 explains the entire mechanism for joining of the various components of the lighting apparatus (1), comprising two supports (3) from the top for withstanding the weight of housing (2) below, wherein the housing (2) is configured to receive the wind tunnels (4) in its enclosures (13) in an anti-parallel manner, wherein the UVC light source (8), preferably LED light strips are made to be secured along the horizontal length of the wind tunnels (4) within its downwardly protruded structures (16), wherein the downwardly oriented vents (5) and the upwardly oriented vents (6) coincides with the housing’s inlet (9) and outlet (10) while the wind tunnels (4) are being placed inside the housing (2) and are configured to secure dimensionally dissimilar fans (7a and 7b), wherein the power source (11) is provided for driving the fans (7a and 7b) for at inlet (9) and outlet (10) of the housing. Once the wind tunnels (4) along with UVC light source (8), fans (7a and 7b), power source (11) are housed within the enclosure (13) of the housing (2), the light source (15) can be detachably affixed onto the bottom of the housing (2) between left and right enclosures. There are sensors (12) provided to be secured on the exterior bottom sides of the housing (2).

Referring to Figure 7, illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, showing air-flow pattern (17 to 18) through the blower/wind tunnel (4) horizontally housed within the housing (2), wherein the fan (7a) provided at the downwardly oriented vent (5) in the inlet tube region (4a) pulls in air containing pathogens (17) from the downward direction and advances further through inverted U-Shaped portion (19) to create a vortex of air to pass over UVC light source (8) through the middle portion (20) of the tunnel, and further exiting out as disinfected air (18) through the upwardly oriented vent (6) via the fan (7b) at an angle between 15-45 degrees above the horizontal (H). The fans (7a) on the inlet side (9) is diametrically bigger than the fans (7b) provided on the outlet side (10) of the tunnel (4), wherein the tube regions (4a and 4b) cross-sectionally tapers from the inlet (9) towards the outlet (10) along the horizontal length of the wind tunnel (4), the fans (7a and 7b) are situated at the downwardly oriented vents (5) and upwardly oriented vents, and, therefore, due to fan’s diametric difference on the inlet (9) and the outlet (10) and cross-sectionally bending and tapering shape of the tunnel (4) along the horizontal length of the housing (2), the exposure time for air containing pathogens (17) over the UVC light source (8) is prolonged to provide efficient disinfection, and the disinfected air (18) is made to be exhausted out above the horizontal (H) between 15 and 45 degrees of angles through the upwardly oriented vent (6) from the outlet (10) in the right direction, wherein an identical blower/wind tunnel (not marked) is anti-parallelly disposed just behind the tunnel shown in front of the figure 7 and configured to perform same functions as of the front tunnel (4) for exhausting out the disinfected air upwardly above the horizontal (H) between 15 and 45 degrees of angles, therefore, to enable the lighting apparatus (1) creating a wind tunnel effect with the help of two identical anti-parallel and adjacently disposed wind tunnels, so as to disinfect air of the definite space in a chronological order of their degree of pathogen content and avoid disinfecting the same air which is just exhausted out through the outlet (10).

While the invention is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, some embodiments have been illustrated by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail above. The intention, however, is not to limit the invention by those examples and the invention is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives to the embodiments described in this specification.

The embodiments in the specification are described in a progressive manner and focus of description in each embodiment is the difference from other embodiments. For same or similar parts of each embodiment, reference may be made to each other.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the above description was in respect of preferred embodiments and that various alterations and modifications are possible within the broad scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention with the necessary modifications.

Based on the description of disclosed embodiments, persons skilled in the art can implement or apply the present disclosure. Various modifications of the embodiments are apparent to persons skilled in the art, and general principles defined in the specification can be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments in the specification but intends to cover the most extensive scope consistent with the principle and the novel features disclosed in the specification.

Claims

I Claim:

1 . A modular lighting apparatus (1) for disinfecting air comprises: a housing (2) provided with inlets (9) and outlets (10) for receiving in air containing pathogens at a certain volumetric rate and exiting out the disinfected air at another volumetric rate; at least two blowers (4), each having a downwardly oriented vent (5) and an upwardly oriented vent (6), wherein said downwardly oriented vent (5) coincides with the inlet (9) and said upwardly oriented vent (6) coincides with the outlet (10) of the housing (2); one or more UVC light source (8) secured in the blower (4) across its horizontal length; and wherein said at least two blowers (4) are anti-parallelly and adjacently disposed along the horizontal within the housing (2), and cross-sectionally tapering from the inlet (9) towards the outlet (10) of the housing (2) for actively pulling in the air containing pathogens to create a vortex of air so as to augmenting it to run over the UVC light source (8) for efficiently exhausting out the disinfected air upwardly at various angles.

2. The lighting apparatus (1) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said downwardly oriented vents (5) and upwardly oriented vents (6) are provided with fans (7a and 7b) for pulling in the air containing pathogens and exhausting out the disinfected air.

3. The lighting apparatus (1) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said downwardly oriented vents (5) coinciding with the inlet (9) is diametrically bigger than the upwardly oriented vents (6) coinciding with the outlet (10) so as to prolong the duration of exposure of air containing pathogens to the UVC light source (8) for optimum disinfection.

4. The lighting apparatus (1) as claimed in claim 2, wherein said fans (7a) provided at the downwardly oriented vent (5) coinciding with the inlet (9) is bigger than the fans (7b) provided at the upwardly oriented vent (6) coinciding with the outlet (10) so as to prolong the duration of exposure of air containing pathogens to the UVC light source (8) for optimum disinfection.

5. The lighting apparatus (1) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said upwardly oriented vent (6) of the blower (4) makes an angle between 15 and 45 degrees with the horizontal (H) and exhausts out the disinfected air at the same angle with the horizontal (H).

6. The lighting apparatus (1) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said upwardly oriented vent (6) makes an angle of 30 degrees with the horizontal (H) and exhausts out the disinfected air at the same angle with the horizontal (H).

7. The lighting apparatus (1) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein upwardly oriented vent (6) makes an angle of 120 degrees with the downwardly oriented vent horizontal (5) and exhausts out the disinfected air at the same angle with respect to the direction in which the air containing pathogens is pulled in through the downwardly oriented vent (5).

8. The lighting apparatus (1) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said housing (2) is provided with sensors (12) configured to sense the presence of any obstacle, if any, at a level of the apparatus (1) or above it.

9. The lighting apparatus (1) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a light source (15) is affixed to the housing (2) for illuminating the space around the lighting apparatus (1).

10. The lighting apparatus (1) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said fans (7a and 7b) running at definite angular speeds on the inlets (9) and outlets (10) couples with the tapering cross section of the blower (4) so as to augment the vortex of air by generating air micro- currents through the blowers (4) for efficient disinfection of the air containing pathogens at an optimum volumetric rate.

11. The lighting apparatus (1) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the certain volumetric rate at which the air containing pathogens is pulled in at the inlet (9) and another volumetric rate of disinfected air exhausted out from the outlet (10) are consecutive Fibonacci Numbers in magnitude.

12. The lighting apparatus (1) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the certain volumetric rate at which the air containing pathogens is pulled in at the inlet (9) is 1.6 to 1.7 times the other volumetric rate of disinfected air exhausted out from the outlet (10).

13. The lighting apparatus (1) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said lighting apparatus (1) is powered from its in-built battery or external electricity supplied via wired connection or replaceable battery or their combination thereof to enable switching power mode as per the requirement.

14. The lighting apparatus (1) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said UVC light source (8) emits wavelengths in a range of 100 to 300 nm.

15. A method for disinfecting air through a lighting apparatus (1) having an UVC light source (8) comprising: pulling in air containing pathogens via at least two inlets (9) of the lighting apparatus (1) at a certain volumetric rate; advancing the air containing pathogens through tapering cross-sections of the lighting apparatus (1) for creating a vortex of air along the horizontal length of the lighting apparatus (1); exposing the vortex of air to the UVC light source (8) for disinfecting the air containing pathogens efficiently; and exhausting out the disinfected air upwardly through at least two outlets (10) of the lighting apparatus (1) at another volumetric rate at various angles; and wherein the method comprises of disinfecting the air containing pathogens efficiently to augmenting the air flow by creating the vortex of air through the tapering cross sections of the lighting apparatus (1), wherein pulling in of the air containing pathogens through the inlets (9) and exhausting out of the disinfected airthrough the outlets (10) are anti-parallel to each other.

16. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein said method comprises of creating the vortex of air through the tapering cross sections so as to prolonging the duration of exposure of air containing pathogens to the UVC light source for optimum disinfection.

17. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein said method comprises of exhausting out the disinfected air through the outlets (10) at an angle between 15 and 45 degrees with the horizontal (H).

18. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein said method comprises of exhausting out the disinfected airthrough the outlets (10) at an angle between 30 degrees with the horizontal (H).

19. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein said exhausting out of the disinfected air through the outlets (10) makes an angle of 120 degrees with the pulling in of the air containing pathogens through the inlets (9).

20. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein said method comprises of illuminating the space around the lighting apparatus (1) employing a light source (15) on the lighting apparatus (1).

21. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein said method comprises of generating air micro-currents employing pulling in the air containing pathogens at the certain volumetric rate on the inlets (9) and coupling with the tapering cross section of the apparatus (1) so as to augmenting the vortex of air for efficiently disinfecting the air containing pathogens and exhausting out the disinfected air at another volumetric rate through the outlets (10).

22. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the certain volumetric rate at which the air containing pathogens is pulled in at the inlets (9) and another volumetric rate of disinfected air exhausted out from the outlets (10) are consecutive Fibonacci Numbers in magnitude.

23. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the certain volumetric rate at which the air containing pathogens is pulled in at the inlets (9) is 1 .6 to 1 .7 times another volumetric rate of disinfected air exhausted out from the outlets (10).

24. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein said method comprises of sensing the presence of any obstacle, if any, at a level of the lighting apparatus (1) or above it.