Patent Application
20060222791
U.S. Pat. No. 6,675,492 issued to the same inventor of this application disclosed a regenerative dehumidifier including a housing formed with a plurality of perforations through the housing for directing moisture-laden air therein, and a moisture-absorbable dehydrating agent filled in the housing for absorbing moisture laden in the air entering the housing for dehumidification. However, this prior art still has the following drawbacks:
The present inventor has found the drawbacks of the prior art and invented the present dehumidifying capsule.
The object of the present invention is to provide a moisture-permeable dehumidifying capsule including a porous container made of porous ceramic shell to permeate moisture-laden air through the porous ceramic shell into the container, and a dehydrating agent filled in the porous container for absorbing moisture as existing in the air and permeated into the container through the porous shell, whereby upon saturation of moisture by the dehydrating agent as filled in the container, the capsule may be easily regenerated by directly placing the capsule in an oven for vaporizing the moisture from the dehydrating agent for removing the moisture as permeably discharged through the porous ceramic shell for conveniently regenerating the dehumidifying capsule.
As shown in
The porous container 1 is formed with porous ceramic shell 11 which is air and moisture permeable through the shell 11 so that the moisture-laden air may be permeated into the container 1 through the porous ceramic shell 11 to be dehumidified by the dehydrating agent 2 as filled in the container 1.
The dehydrating agent 2 may be selected from silica gel or any other moisture-absorbable materials, not limited in this invention.
The porous container 1 is no longer drilled with perforations or ventilation holes through the shell 11 since the shell 11 is air and moisture permeable or penetrable. So, the granular dehydrating agent 2 as filled in the container 2 will not be released outwardly since the porosity in the shell 11 is too fine, thereby preventing unexpected outward releasing of the granular dehydrating agent 2 from the interior of the container 1. Therefore, a filter sheet (21) as provided in U.S. Pat. No. 6,675,492 to preclude the outward releasing of the granular dehydrating agent 2 may now be eliminated to thereby save production cost and to thereby enhance the maintenance convenience.
The porous container 1 includes an opening 12 formed in the container for filling or re-filling the dehydrating agent 2 into the container 1 through the opening 12, and a plug 13 which may be plugged in the opening 12 for sealing the opening 12 once the container 1 is fully or well filled with the dehydrating agent 2 therein.
The plug 13 may further include a plug hole 131 formed through the plug 13, and a cover 14 movably or rotatably engaged on the plug 13 for normally closing the plug hole 131 and having a cover hole 14 formed through the cover 14 to be operatively communicated with the plug hole 131 in the plug 13 when rotating the cover 14 for matching the cover hole 141 with the plug hole 131.
By the way, when the cover 14 normally closes the plug hole 131 in the plug 13, the moisture as laden in the air may permeate into the container through the porous shell 11 to be absorbed by the dehydrating agent 2 in the container 1 for dehumidifying the air surrounding the capsule of the present invention.
A saturation indicator 3 such as a color-change indicator (e.g., cobalt chloride) impregnated in the dehydrating agent may be coated, printed or formed on the capsule 1 as shown in
Since the container 1 is formed with porous shell 11 such as formed with porous ceramic material, the capsule 1 may be directly placed in an oven (such as a microwave oven) to be heated for vaporizing the moisture as saturated in the dehydrating agent 2 and the vaporized moisture will be released or discharged outwardly through the porous shell 11 for regenerating the dehydrating agent 2 for its re-use.
During the regeneration of the dehydrating agent 2 in the container 1, the cover 14 may be moved or rotated about the longitudinal axis X at a center of the cover 14 and the plug 13 to coincide the cover hole 141 with the plug hole 131 to allow a rapid outward releasing of water vapor as vaporized from the saturated moisture as absorbed by the dehydrating agent when heated. Preferably, the capsule as shown in
The container 1 may be formed with a plurality of supporting legs 10 on the container bottom portion to be rested on a supporting surface S.
The container 1 may be formed as an egg, oval, spherical or cylindrical shape, but not limited in the present invention.
As shown in FIGS. 3˜5, a holding base 4 is provided for mounting, supporting or resting the porous container 1 on the base 4. The base 4 is not so critical in this invention. However, the capsule, once being held on the base 4, will be more stable and better decorative.
As shown in
Each holding arm 41 may be embedded with the saturation indicator 3 in a display window 43 formed in the holding arm 41 for showing a color change of the saturation indicator 3 when the dehydrating agent 2 in the container 1 is saturated by moisture. Each saturation indicator 3 has the color-change indicator 31 impregnated in the dehydrating agent and filled in the indicator 3 as shown in
The holding base 4 is simplified from
In
The present invention provides a compact dehumidifier which may allow the moisture penetrable through the porous ceramic shell 11 into the container for simplifying the operation and production thereof. For regeneration, it may be directly placed in an oven for heating, quickly vaporizing and releasing the moisture through the porous shell.
Nevertheless, the present invention may be further modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
