Adsorbent assembly for removing gaseous contaminants

Claim 2

An adsorbent assembly having a low profile container for removing unfiltered gaseous contaminants generated within an enclosure consisting of three layers including a layer of an adhesive; a flattened adsorbent layer; and a layer of filtering media of expanded porous polytetrafluoroethylene membrane wherein the adsorbent layer is placed between the adhesive layer and the filtering layer.

Claim 3

An adsorbent assembly of claim 1 wherein the adhesive layer is a double-sided adhesive of non-particulating permanent acrylic coated onto a carrier.

Claim 4

An adsorbent assembly of claim 1 wherein the adsorbent layer comprises 100% adsorbent material.

Claim 5

An adsorbent assembly of claim 1 wherein the adsorbent layer comprises a scaffold of porous polymeric material impregnated with an adsorbent.

Claim 6

An adsorbent assembly of claim 4 wherein the scaffold of porous polymeric material is expanded porous polytetrafluoroethylene.

Claim 7

An adsorbent assembly of claim 1 wherein the thickness of the adsorbent layer is less than about 0.005 inches.

Claim 8

An adsorbent assembly of claim 1 wherein the adsorbent material is selected from the group consisting of physisorbents such as silica gel, activated carbon, activated alumina and a molecular sieve.

Claim 9

An adsorbent assembly of claim 1 wherein the adsorbent material is selected from the group consisting of potassium permanganate, calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate and powdered metals.

Claim 10

An adsorbent assembly of claim 1 wherein the layer of filtering media is a laminate of expanded porous polytetrafluoroethylene and support material.

Claim 11

An adsorbent assembly as described in claim 1 for use in removing gaseous contaminants from within a computer disk drive enclosure wherein the filtering layer is a top layer of expanded porous PTFE having an air permeability of equal to or less than 7.0 cubic feet/minute/square feet of membrane at a 0.5 inches of water column differential pressure and a filter efficiency of greater than 99.97% retention of particles greater than or equal to 0.3 micrometers, that is laminated to a non-woven backing, a middle adsorbent layer comprising expanded PTFE filled with an activated adsorbent and a bottom adhesive layer of a polyester film carrier laminated on two sides with a high temperature permanent acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive wherein the top filtering layer and bottom adhesive layer surround the middle adsorbent layer and further wherein the top filtering layer and bottom adhesive layer meet to form a seam along a peripheral edge of the adhesive layer and wherein the entire assembly is disk shaped and has a thickness of about 0.035 inches.

Claim 12

An adsorbent assembly as described in claim 1 wherein the layer of adhesive is transparent and said adsorbent layer contains an indicator that changes color when the adsorbent has been spent, said adsorbent assembly capable of being mounted on the outside of an enclosure into an access hole of the enclosure so that the adsorbent layer is visible from the outside.

Claim 13

An adsorbent assembly of claim 11 wherein the adhesive layer has a substrate selected from the group consisting of polyester, polypropylene and FEP and the indicator is selected from the group consisting of cobalt chloride, O-tolidine, N,N 1 -diphenybenzidine, disodium tetrachloromercurate, and methyl red.

Claim 14

An adsorbent assembly having a low profile container for removing unfiltered gaseous contaminants generated within an enclosure consisting of three layers including a layer of an adhesive; a flattened adsorbent layer; and a layer of filtering media of expanded porous polytetrafluoroethylene membrane wherein the adsorbent layer is placed between the adhesive layer and the filtering layer and wherein the adhesive layer is comprised of two surfaces, the first surface being of the adhesive for use in mounting the assembly outside of the enclosure and a second outer surface comprising a metallized surface that provides an electromagnetic insulating shield to the enclosure.

Claim 15

An adsorbent assembly having a low profile container for removing unfiltered gaseous contaminants generated within an enclosure consisting of three layers including a layer of an adhesive; a flattened adsorbent layer; and a layer of filtering media of expanded porous polytetrafluoroethylene membrane wherein the adsorbent layer is placed between the adhesive layer and the filtering layer and wherein the adhesive layer is comprised of two surfaces, the first surface being of the adhesive for use in mounting the assembly outside of the enclosure and a second outer surface comprising a metallized surface that provides an electromagnetic insulating shield to the enclosure.

Claim 16

An adsorbent assembly of claim 13 wherein the metallized material is aluminized polyester sheeting.

Claim 17

An adsorbent assembly of claim 13 wherein the adhesive layer is a conductive adhesive to prevent buildup of static electrical charges.

Claim 18

An adsorbent assembly having a low profile container for removing unfiltered gaseous contaminants generated within an enclosure consisting of an adhesive layer in the form of an annular ring having a central void space, a layer of filtering media of expanded porous polytetrafluoroethylene membrane within the void space, a layer of an adsorbent material in laminar relation to the annular adhesive ring and filter media and an outer impermeable layer in laminar relation to the adsorbent layer.

Claim 19

An adsorbent assembly having a low profile container for removing unfiltered gaseous contaminants generated within an enclosure consisting of an adhesive layer in the form of an annular ring having a central void space, a layer of filtering media of expanded porous polytetrafluoroethylene membrane within the void space, a layer of an adsorbent material in laminar relation to the annular adhesive ring and filter media and an outer impermeable layer in laminar relation to the adsorbent layer.

Claim 20

An adsorbent assembly of claim 16 wherein the outer impermeable layer is a metallized material that provides an electromagnetic insulating shield to the enclosure.

Claim 21

An adsorbent assembly of claim 17 wherein the metallized material is aluminized polyester sheeting.

Claim 22

An adsorbent assembly of claim 16 wherein the adsorbent layer contains an indicator capable of changing color when the adsorbent has been spent and wherein the outer impermeable layer is transparent thereby rendering the indicator visible.

Claim 23

An adsorbent assembly of claim 19 wherein the impermeable layer is selected from the group consisting of polyester, polypropylene, and FEP and the indicator is selected from the group consisting of cobalt chloride, O-tolidine, N,N 1 -diphenylbenzidine, disodium tetrachloromercurate, and methyl red.