Design and Optimization of Collapsible Air Filter for Reduced Shipping Costs for HVAC Applications

目前暖通空调行业的空气过滤器设计给许多制造商带来了运输挑战。目前的过滤器设计重量轻，体积大，在运输过程中占用大量空间，导致运输成本较高。*DustStop空气过滤器公司自1981年以来一直在其位于安大略省彼得罗里亚的制造工厂生产加拿大制造的空气过滤器。空气过滤器服务于北美的住宅和商业暖通空调市场。DustStop不断努力创造一个可持续的未来，通过开发产品来提高客户的生活质量，同时密切评估这些产品对环境的影响。*DustStop正在寻求设计和制造一种创新的可折叠空气过滤器，以降低运输成本。DustStop主要有两种类型的过滤器，一种是低成本的玻璃纤维产品，另一种是名义上更昂贵的褶皱版本。两者都有刚性框架，但存在通过改变刚性框架设计来压缩过滤介质的机会。*拟议项目的目的是调查一种可折叠空气过滤器的开发，该过滤器将使更多的空气过滤器能够包装在同一运输纸箱中。这个项目的结果将使Dusttop能够降低运输成本，并通过优化运输过程减少他们对环境的碳足迹，从而减少温室气体排放。新产品开发可能获得专利，在这个成本驱动的市场上为DustStop提供相对于竞争对手的竞争优势。*

The current design of air filters for the HVAC industry pose shipping challenges for many manufacturers. Currently filters designs are lightweight and very bulky, taking up a large amount of space during shipping and translating into high shipping costs. ****Duststop Air Filters Inc. has been producing Canadian-made air filters since 1981 from its manufacturing plant located in Petrolia, Ontario. The air filters serve both residential and commercial HVAC markets across North America. Duststop, continually strives to create a sustainable future by developing products to improve the quality of their customer's lives while closely evaluating the impact these products have on the environment. ****Duststop is looking to design and manufacture an innovative collapsible air filter to lower shipping costs. Duststop has primarily two types of filters, a low cost fibreglass product and a nominally more expensive pleated version. Both have rigid frames but opportunities exist for compressing the filter media by changes to the rigid frame design.****The purpose of the proposed project is to investigate the development of a collapsible air filter that will enable a higher quantity of air filters to be packaged within the same shipping carton. The result of this project will allow Duststop to reduce shipping costs as well as to reduce their carbon footprint on the environment by optimizing the shipping process and thereby decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.The new product development could potentially be patented, providing a competitive advantage for Duststop over competitors in this cost driven market.****