BACKGROUND
An evaporative cooler or swamp cooler is a device that cools air through the evaporation of water. An evaporative cooler pulls outside air in from the outside and cools the outside air through he evaporation of water and then blows the cool air into a building such as a house or home. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, an evaporative cooler 100 comprises a plurality of exposed sides and each side may include an air intake 102 on an exterior 104 of the evaporative cooler 100. The air intake 102 receives outside air and the outside air is moistened and the moisture is then evaporated before being blown into a building. The evaporation process cools the outside air. In extremely dry climates, evaporative cooling of air has the added benefit of conditioning the air with more moisture for the comfort of building occupants.
Dry climates, where evaporative coolers are used, are also subject to frequent wildfires which may be caused by lightening, camp fires or by hunters. Wildfires in these dry climates can burn tens of thousands of acres before being extinguished and, while burning, these wildfires fill the air with smoke that can travel for miles subjecting the residents of surrounding areas to be stuck inside their homes. Since evaporative coolers pull outside air into homes, many residents can not use their evaporative coolers during wildfires and must endure the heat which can be deadly for some residents who are sensitive to these conditions.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a system to allow evaporative coolers to function during the fire season so that residents can stay cool within their homes.
SUMMARY
Some embodiments described herein relate to an evaporative cooler filter that comprises a flexible filtering medium and one or more adhering strips affixed to the flexible filtering medium to removably cover an exterior air intake of an evaporative cooler. A technical advantage of some embodiments disclosed herein are improved filtering of air that passes through an evaporative cooler.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates an evaporative cooler as known in the prior art.
FIG. 2 illustrates an evaporative cooler filter according to some embodiments.
FIG. 2A illustrates an evaporative cooler filter according to some embodiments.
FIG. 3 illustrates an evaporative cooler filter according to some embodiments.
FIG. 4 illustrates an evaporative cooler filter according to some embodiments.
FIG. 4A illustrates an evaporative cooler filter according to some embodiments.
FIG. 5 illustrates an evaporative cooler filter affixed to an evaporative cooler according to some embodiments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the embodiments.
The present embodiments relate to a removable, and disposable filter, that may be attached to an evaporative cooler for use during times of fire to prevent smoke from being drawn into the evaporative cooler. The present embodiments may further relate to a removable, and disposable filter, that may be attached to an evaporative cooler for the prevention of dust, pollen, allergens and other pollutants from entering a home through the evaporative cooler.
Now referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 2A, FIG. 3, FIG. 4 and FIG. 4A, embodiments of an evaporative cooler filter 200/300/400 are illustrated. As illustrated in FIG. 2, an evaporative cooler filter 200 may be parallelogram shaped such as, but not limited to, a square shape or a rectangle shape. The evaporative cooler filter 200 may comprise a filter medium 202. The filter medium may comprise a first side 206 that includes one or more adhering strips 204 attached the first side 206. The filter medium 202 may comprise a flexible filtering medium that is capable of blocking at least 95 percent of 0.3-micron sized particles such as, but not limited to, smoke particles dust, pollen, allergens and other pollutants. The filter medium 202 may be comprised of at least one of polypropylene and polyester. In some embodiments, the filter medium 202 may comprise a material such as an N95 or P100 respirator filter material that may also be used for a particulate respirator.
The adhering strips 204 may be used to removably cover an air intake (such as air intake 102) of an evaporative cooler. As illustrated in FIG. 2, four adhering strips 204 may be positioned on the first side 206 where each of the four adhering strips 204 runs parallel to, and a same distance from, a respective edge of the filter medium 202. Using four separate adhering strips 204 may facilitate the filter to adhere to an exterior of an evaporative cooler by allowing for easy placement of the evaporative cooler filter 200 over an air intake 102. However, in some embodiments, a single adhering strip 304 with connected corners may be used as illustrated in FIG. 3. In some embodiments, the adhering strips 204 may comprise a plurality of adhering dots (i.e., dot shaped magnets). For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2A, adhering corner dots 210 may be arranged at the corners of the filtering medium and may be used to secure the evaporative cooler filter to a evaporative cooler. In some embodiments, adhering middle dots 212 may be used in conjunction with the adhering corner dots 210 to create strong adherence of the evaporative cooler filter during operation of the evaporative cooler. As illustrated in FIG. 2, FIG. 2A, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the dashed lines may represent the adhering strips 204 as viewed from an opposite side of the filter medium 202 from which the adhering strips 204 are attached to the filter medium 202.
The adhering strips 204/304/404 may be comprised of a magnetic material that may be removably coupled to a metal exterior of an evaporative cooler. For example, the magnetic material may comprise a flexible magnetic dot, strip or tape. In a case where an exterior of an evaporative cooler is plastic, or other non-ferrous material, the adhering strips 204 may comprise a hook-and-loop type fastener system that includes two fabric strips, dots or squares (e.g., VELCRO) to adhere the evaporative cooler filter to an exterior of an evaporative cooler.
In a case where an air intake on an evaporative cooler is circular shaped, a circular filter medium 402 with a corresponding circular adhering strip 404 may be used. As illustrated in FIG. 4A, the circular adhering strip 404 may comprise a plurality of adhering dots 410 (e.g., a plurality of dot shaped magnets). In operation, an evaporative cooler pulls the evaporative cooler filter toward the air intake 102 and, as such, the evaporative cooler filter medium is pressed against the air intake 102 thus minimizing an amount of smoke particulate that can enter the evaporative cooler while still allowing air to enter. When the evaporative cooler filter turns off, or cycles, the evaporative cooler filter may remain adhered to the evaporative cooler via the adhering strips 204. Since wildfires may burn for days and/or weeks, the evaporative cooler filters 200/300/400 may be easily replaced with new and clean evaporative cooler filters.
For purposes of illustrating features of the present embodiments, a simple example will now be introduced and referenced throughout the disclosure. Those skilled in the art will recognize that this example is illustrative and is not limiting and is provided purely for explanatory purposes.
During summer months, when the air is dry and wildfires break out, a home owner may wish to continue to use their evaporative cooler to keep their home cool even though the outside air is filled with smoke. To keep the smoke from entering the home, the home owner may place one or more filters, as described herein, over each air intake of the evaporative cooler. For example, the evaporative cooler of FIG. 5 illustrates three air intakes. The home owner may take a first filter 200 and place it over a first air intake 102 (not shown in FIG. 5) where the filter is secured by a magnetic material that adheres to the exterior of the evaporative cooler. The home owner may then use the evaporative cooler to stay cool and the filter will remove smoke particulate from entering the home. If the wildfire burns for a long period of time, the home owner can simply remove the filter from the air intake and replace the filter with a new filter.
Those in the art will appreciate that various adaptations and modifications of the above-described embodiments can be configured without departing from the scope and spirit of the claims. Therefore, it is to be understood that the claims may be practiced other than as specifically described herein.
Patent Application
20200116387
