This invention relates to household humidifiers, and more specifically, to safety, convenience, and health improvements thereto.
Household humidifiers have existed for many decades. Such appliances generally fall into one of the following five categories; Vaporizers, Warm Mist, Cool Mist, Evaporative, and Ultrasonic.
Vaporizers include a pair of electrodes of different voltage levels submersed in water to cause a vaporizing electrical current therebetween within the water which boils to release humidity into the room.
Each type of prior art humidifier suffers from one or more real or perceived drawbacks;
There exists the need and it is an object of the invention to provide a humidifier that solves the drawbacks of prior art humidifiers.
There exists the need and it is a further object of the invention to provide such a humidifier that provides healthful humidity.
There exists the need and it is a further object of the invention to provide such a humidifier that is safe, quiet, and odorless.
There exists the need and it is a further object of the invention to provide such a humidifier that maintains itself in a safe and healthful condition automatically.
Additional needs and objects will become apparent from a reading of the following information.
The present invention is a humidifier of a novel category which includes both a wick and a wick heater and is arranged to cause vaporization without boiling and to cause humidification having the healthful qualities of a diligently-maintained evaporative humidifier without the need for the diligent maintenance. The humidifier may be further adapted to automatically sterilize its wick and/or other internal components on a regular basis to prevent the growth of germs therein. The arrangement reduces noise and extends the lifetime of the wick while preventing the release of odors and unhealthy mold spores into the air.
The invention may be embodied in or practiced using a humidifier having a housing and a base, wherein the housing includes a top side with a steam exhaust vent and a fill opening there-through, a tank adapted to receive water through the fill opening, and a one-way fill valve to allow the water downwardly through the fill opening but otherwise close the fill opening, and having a vaporizer including a heating element surrounded by a removable porous sleeve, the sleeve protruding downwardly from the housing and in fluid communication with the steam exhaust vent, and the base is adapted to removably receive the housing there-atop and includes a reservoir for receiving water from the tank and for receiving the porous sleeve, whereby the porous sleeve wicks water from the reservoir including minerals and impurities therein into contact with the heating element, wherein energization of the heating element causes the wicked water to convert to steam which rises through the steam exhaust vent and from the housing during a humidification mode, and wherein the minerals and impurities remain within the porous sleeve.
The steam exhaust vent further may include a normally open exhaust valve which is closed during a sterilization mode to prevent the steam from rising through the steam exhaust vent, whereby the steam circulates within the humidifier to sterilize surfaces and components therein.
The humidifier may have a water level sensor in electrical communication with the heating element and the exhaust valve and adapted to sense a water level within the reservoir to enable energization/de-energization of the heating element and opening/closing of the exhaust valve according thereto.
The tank may include a normally closed water-release valve that prevents the outflow of water from the tank when the tank is not properly received by the base, and the base may include a valve actuator adapted to open the water release valve and allow water from the tank into the reservoir there-through until a water level in the reservoir rises to a first water level. The water level sensor may enable energization of the heating element when the water level in the reservoir rises to the first water level to thereby enable the humidification mode.
The water level sensor may be adapted to sense when the water level in the reservoir falls to a second water level lower than the first water level and to then close the exhaust valve to thereby enable the sterilization mode. The water level in the reservoir may fall to the second water level when the tank has become empty of water.
The water level sensor may be adapted to sense when the water level in the reservoir falls to a third water level lower than the second water level and to then de-energize the heating element.
The water level sensor may be adapted to enable re-opening of the exhaust valve when the water level in the reservoir falls to the third water level.
The valve actuator may be a float that rises and falls with the water level in the reservoir. The housing may include the water level sensor. The top side may be a cover removable from the housing and including the steam exhaust vent, the fill opening, the exhaust valve, and the one-way fill valve.
The humidifier may alternatively include a timer adapted to de-energize the heating element when a predetermined sterilization period has passed. The timer may be adapted to enable re-opening of the exhaust valve when the predetermined sterilization period has passed. The porous sleeve may be made of a heat-tolerant material and the predetermined sterilization period may be long enough to ensure that the porous material has wicked all water from the reservoir during the sterilization period.
Many aspects of the invention can be better understood with reference to the following detailed description of an exemplary humidifier along with accompanying drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the invention.
Referring to
Referring to
The housing contains a water tank 116 which communicates with and is adapted to receive water through the fill opening as in
The housing includes a controller 122. Vaporizer 124 includes a PTC heating element 126 electrically controlled by the controller and depending downwardly from the housing and surrounded by the removable porous absorption sleeve. The sleeve is made of a heat-resistant non-flammable wicking material, preferably polyester felt because it has good wicking qualities, is tolerant to the high temperatures needed for steam generation, is germ-resistant, is dishwasher-safe, and is acid resistant. The sleeve may be a cylindrical tube or sock that slides up and tightly around the heating element of may be a sheet which wraps tightly around the heating element and is secured by such means as hook-loop fastening. The sleeve is thereby easily removable from the heating element for changing and cleaning, and hangs from the housing below the heating element. The sleeve and heating element are below and in fluid communication with the steam exhaust vent though vertical chimney 127.
The base is adapted to removably receive the housing there-atop and includes a reservoir 128 for receiving water from the water tank and for receiving the lower end 132 of the porous sleeve, whereby when water is within the reservoir and submerges at least a portion of the lower end, the porous sleeve wicks the water up, around, and in contact with the heating element, including minerals and impurities that may reside within that water. Energization of the heating element then causes the wicked water to convert to clean pure steam 134 which rises through the steam exhaust vent and from the housing during a humidification mode, and the minerals and impurities remain within the porous sleeve. This is depicted in
The steam exhaust vent includes a normally open exhaust valve 136 including and controlled by a stepping motor 138. The exhaust valve is an unbiased butterfly valve having only two functional positions as controlled by the stepping motor; the open position of
The housing includes a water level sensor 142 in electrical communication with the heating element and the exhaust valve's stepping motor. The sensor is adapted to sense the water level within the reservoir to enable energization/de-energization of the heating element and opening/closing of the exhaust valve according thereto.
The tank has a normally closed water-release valve 144 that prevents the outflow of water from the tank when the tank is not properly received by the base. The water-release valve is a compression spring-biased stem valve. The base includes a valve actuator 146 adapted to open the water release valve and allow water from the tank into the reservoir there-through until the water level in the reservoir rises to a first water level 148, being the normal operating level during the humidification mode. The valve actuator includes a float 152 that is hingedly connected to the base so that it is free to rise and fall with the water level in the reservoir.
The water level sensor then enables energization of the heating element when the water level in the reservoir rises to the first water level to thereby enable the humidification mode.
The water level sensor is disposed and adapted to sense when the water level in the reservoir falls to a second water level 154 lower than the first water level and to then close the exhaust valve to thereby enable the sterilization mode. The water level in the reservoir falls to the second water level only after the tank has become empty of water.
The water level sensor is also disposed and adapted to sense when the water level in the reservoir falls to a third water level 156 lower than the second water level, where the reservoir is at or near to completely empty, and to then de-energize the heating element and terminate the sterilization mode. The water level sensor enables re-opening of the exhaust valve when the water level in the reservoir falls to the third water level.
The controller includes circuitry connected to a user interface control panel 158 and circuitry with switches, indicators, a power controller, a timer 162, and a humidity sensor to enable control of various operations, such as ambient humidity level and rate of humidity output. The indicators may include a display to indicate settings and ambient room temperature sensed by the humidity sensor. The controller is adapted to vary the heater wattage according to operational requirements or user selection. The timer allows the user to select a time period for humidification in the event that less than a full tank of humidity is needed or desired, such as when the humidifier is used in a small room or only needed until the user has fallen asleep.
Rather than rely on the water level sensor sensing the third water level to terminate the sterilization mode, the timer may alternatively disable the heater to terminate the sterilization mode after a predetermined period of time, a sterilization period, at the end of which the reservoir is expected to be at or near completely empty. The timer would then also be adapted to enable re-opening of the exhaust valve when the predetermined sterilization period has passed.
As an added safety feature, an electrical cover lock 164 within the housing and circuitry secures the cover to the housing to ensure that the cover cannot be removed during the sterilization mode. The lock is unlocked once the sterilization mode is terminated.
The sanitizing mode may also be initiated manually by the user at any time by activating a switch on the control panel. The controller may require that the water level sensor confirms that the water level is below the first water level before enabling such activation.
As a safety feature, the fill valve is adapted to lock in its closed position during the sterilization mode to avoid the burning of a hand or such by reaching inside the humidifier. This is accomplished by a heat-activated locking hinge 166 best seen in
Various aspects of the humidifier are worthy of special mention and repeat;
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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6591061 | Wang | Jul 2003 | B2 |
20100258958 | Wong | Oct 2010 | A1 |
20240068679 | Johnson | Feb 2024 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20230012780 A1 | Jan 2023 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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63223128 | Jul 2021 | US |