Patent Grant
7350773
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a humidifier having a controlled airflow pattern. More particularly, the present invention relates to a humidifier having a means to cause the produced vapor/mist to swirl in a vortex as it exits the humidifier.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Humidifiers are useful in raising the humidity of air inside homes, particularly during periods of dry weather during the winter and when heat inside a home causes the relative humidity within the home to be lowered to an uncomfortable level. Under these conditions, it is desirable to introduce moisture into the air. Such increased humidity may be desirable in order to improve the comfort level for individuals experiencing the humidified air. For example, during cold weather indoor humidity levels can drop causing drying of skin or throat and adding to the discomfort of respiratory infections.
In general, humidifiers vaporize water and expel the vapor into the surrounding environment in order to increase the moisture content thereof. Humidifiers are available in a variety of sizes and designs and include both console units and portable units. Console units typically are large stationary units having the humidifying capacity to affect large areas such as an entire house. Portable units are smaller in size and usually have the humidifying capacity to meet the requirements of a single room. Portable humidifiers due to their small size permit them to be moved from room to room as required.
Several types of humidifiers for increasing humidity in a room are well known in the art, and include ultrasonic, steam-type, warm-air and evaporative humidifiers. In each case, such humidifiers typically include a housing having an inlet, an outlet, a reservoir for holding water and a fan that is connected to the housing for creating an airflow. Water is supplied to the reservoir by a supply tank which is removably supported in the housing. The tank may be removed as required in order to replenish the water supply. Water is typically introduced into the tank through a fill hole which is covered by a removable cap.
Water is typically transferred from the tank to the base reservoir through a valve assembly disposed in the bottom of the tank. When the tank is placed in the base, the valve engages a member on the base which urges the valve into an open position thereby allowing the water to flow into the reservoir. As water flows from the tank to the reservoir, air simultaneously is drawn into the tank through the valve by the vacuum created from the exiting water. When the water level in the reservoir rises to such a degree that the valve opening becomes covered with water, a hydrostatic balance is reached and the flow of water ceases. As water is vaporized, the reservoir level drops disturbing the balance and resulting in the continued flow of water from the tank. This controlled flow cycle ensures that the humidification device will have a supply of water with which to vaporize, as well as limiting the amount of water such that no water spills over the edges of the base reservoir.
Ultrasonic or nebulizing humidifiers typically atomize the water by way of an ultrasonic transducer. The transducer converts water in the reservoir to a fine mist by using an ultrasonic wave produced with a vibrating plate or nebulizer contained therein. The resulting fine mist is then typically directed out of the humidifier with a fan to raise the moisture content in the surrounding area.
Steam-type humidifiers, on the other hand, often utilize an induction heating process, which involves the heating of a metal target or work piece by an induced current. Generally, water is provided in a reservoir together with a metal target. An inductor coil adjacent the target is supplied with power causing the target to heat the water sufficiently to produce steam. The steam is directed out of the humidifier into the environment to thereby increase the humidity of the environment.
In evaporative humidifiers, a water absorbing material, generally known as a wick, is seated partially submerged in the water of the reservoir and is adapted to draw water in the upper non-immersed part by capillary action. An airflow created by a fan is directed to pass through the upper non-immersed portion of the wick to humidify the air in the room.
Generally, the primary goal of all types of conventional humidifiers is to provide moisture to the environment with little attention being paid to the manner in which the moisture laden vapor/mist is visually presented. However, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,646, a visually entertaining humidifier has been proposed which generates and displays a small scale tornado-like air flow with the vapor/mist produced by the humidifier. This is accomplished with two air distribution tubes mounted within a chamber which provide an airflow to urge a water aerosol into a helical path to simulate a tornado prior to the moisture stream exiting the humidifier. The resulting effect is both visually entertaining and practical in terms of humidifying the surrounding room.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to improve upon the entertaining effect of such humidifiers, while providing a simpler and more cost-effective design. It would be further desirable to provide a device which performs a similar effect, but directs airflow in a more predictable and specific pattern.
The present invention is a humidifier which creates a visually entertaining helical flow of mist. The humidifier generally includes a base unit defining a reservoir for holding a quantity of water, a water tank supported on the base unit for supplying water to the reservoir, a humidification device, such as an ultrasonic transducer, in communication with the reservoir for vaporizing the water held in the reservoir to produce a mist, a vortex unit supported on the base unit and a nozzle and a vortex creator positioned in the vortex unit. The vortex unit has an opening disposed above the base unit reservoir to permit the mist produced by the humidification device to rise upwardly into the vortex unit. The nozzle is positioned adjacent the mist opening for introducing a carrier medium flow into the vortex unit and the vortex creator is positioned above the nozzle and the mist opening for diverting the upwardly rising mist from the reservoir into the carrier medium flow from the nozzle and directing a combined mist and carrier medium flow into a helical path within the vortex unit.
In a preferred embodiment, the vortex creator includes a plate member disposed generally perpendicular to an axis of the vortex unit mist opening and the nozzle has an outlet oriented to direct the carrier medium flow to impinge on the plate member. The nozzle outlet is preferably angularly oriented to direct the carrier medium flow to impinge on the vortex creator plate member at an angle of between about 0 degrees and 90 degrees, and more preferably at an angle of about 45 degrees.
The base unit preferably includes a tray portion defining the reservoir and the nozzle is integrally formed with the tray portion and includes an internal conduit for delivering the carrier medium from below the tray portion into the vortex unit. The vortex unit preferably defines a cylindrical inner chamber for containing the helical flow and includes a transparent or translucent window portion for viewing the helical flow. The vortex unit may further include a removable door for accessing the interior of the said vortex unit. A light emitting element for illuminating the helical flow within the vortex unit and a fan for forcing the carrier medium through the nozzle may also be provided.
The present invention further involves a method for generating a visually entertaining helical flow of mist within a humidifier. The method generally includes the steps of vaporizing an amount of water contained within a reservoir of the humidifier to produce a mist, permitting the mist to rise upwardly from the reservoir into a vortex unit, introducing a flow of carrier medium into the vortex unit adjacent the upwardly rising mist, deflecting the upwardly rising mist into a path of the carrier medium flow with a plate member and directing a combined flow of mist and carrier medium into a helical path within the vortex unit with the plate member. The method preferably includes the step of directing the carrier medium flow to impinge upon the plate member at an angle of between about 0 degrees and 90 degrees, and more preferably at an angle of about 45 degrees.
The preferred embodiments of the humidifier of the present invention, as well as other objects, features and advantages of this invention, will be apparent from the following detailed description, which is to be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the claims.
Referring first to
Referring additionally to
The front and rear cover portions 21 and 22 form a peripheral side wall of the base unit 12. The front cover portion 21 includes a window frame 27 formed therein for viewing the vortex unit 16 and the rear cover portion 22 includes an air inlet 29 formed therein. The base unit 12 may also contain controls 34, accessible through the front cover portion 21, for adjusting the rate of vaporization and the level of ambient humidity desired in a manner well known in the art.
As further shown in
The tray portion 20 of the base unit 12 further includes a nozzle 32, which may be formed integral with the tray or formed separately and attached to the tray in a conventional manner. The nozzle 32 is disposed over an opening 54 formed in the floor 25 of the tray portion 20 and includes an outlet 33 formed opposite the tray opening. The outlet 33 is preferably formed at an angle with respect to the floor 25 of the tray portion 20. As will be discussed in further detail below, the nozzle 32 of the base unit 20 extends through a nozzle opening 56 of the vortex unit 16 to deliver a carrier medium, such as ambient air, into the vortex unit.
The water in the base reservoir 26 communicates with a humidification device 28, which is located within the base unit 12. In a preferred embodiment, the humidification device 28 is an ultrasonic transducer 29 attached to the base unit 12 between the bottom portion 18 and the tray portion 20. The ultrasonic transducer 29 includes a vibrating plate 30, which extends through an opening 31 formed in the floor 25 of the tray portion 20 to be in contact with the water contained in the tray portion reservoir 26. The ultrasonically vibrating plate 30 vaporizes the water within the reservoir 26 to produce a vapor or mist, which rises into the vortex unit 16 in a manner described in more detail below.
In alternative embodiments, the humidification device 28 can be of any type well known in the art, such as a heating coil, an inductive element, or an evaporative wick, which causes the evaporating, nebulizing, heating or misting of the water. In addition, throughout this specification the terms vaporize and vaporization are used to refer to the process of transforming water to a gas-like state such as a vapor, a mist or a fine spray so that it way be dispersed to the surrounding air and increase the water content thereof.
A fan assembly 44 is also provided within the base unit 12 for creating an airflow within the humidifier. The fan assembly 44 includes a motor 46, a propeller 48 and a transformer 50. The motor 46 is preferably an electric motor which is mounted to the base unit 12 between the bottom portion 18 and the tray portion 20. The propeller 48 is rotatably received in a cowl portion 47 of the base bottom portion 18 and initially draws relatively dry air in through the air inlet 29 of the base unit rear cover portion 22. Air drawn into the base unit 12 by the fan assembly 44 is forced upwardly through the opening 54 of the tray portion 20 and out through the angularly oriented outlet 33 of the nozzle 32. As will be discussed in further detail below, the airflow passing through the tray portion 20 is mixed with the water vapor generated in the reservoir 26 before exiting through a vortex chamber outlet 52 provided at an upper end of the vortex unit 16.
Referring now to
The valve assembly 40 is of a type well known in the art which prevents water from flowing from the tank 36 when it is outside the base unit 12, but allows water to exit the tank when the tank is inserted in the base. In this regard, the valve assembly 40 is engageable with a valve actuator 42, provided in the base unit 12, for permitting water to exit the tank 36 to flow into the base reservoir 26. As shown in
Referring now to
In a preferred embodiment, the vortex unit 16 further includes a vortex clean door 64 having a floor portion 66. However, it is conceivable for the floor portion 66 of the vortex clean door 64 to be integrated with the rear housing 60. In the preferred embodiment, the vortex clean door 64 is removably attached to the vortex rear housing 60 via a simple latch mechanism 65, which engages the rim of a finger opening 67 formed in the rear housing. Such removal of the clean door 64 provides access to the interior surface of the vortex window 58 for cleaning.
The floor portion 66 of the vortex clean door 64 is formed with the nozzle opening 56 mentioned above and is also formed with a mist or vapor opening 68. The mist or vapor opening 68 communicates with the tray reservoir 26 when the vortex unit 16 is mounted to the base unit 12. In this manner, vapor or mist generated by the humidification device 28 rises from the base reservoir 26 through the vapor opening 68 formed in the floor portion 66 and enters the vapor unit 16. As mentioned above, the vapor entering the vortex unit 16 through the vapor opening 68 mixes with the air entering the vortex unit through the nozzle 32.
The vortex creator 62 is attached to the floor portion 66 of the clean door 64 and is positioned over both the nozzle 32 and the vapor opening 68. The vortex creator 62 includes an upper plate-like member 70 and a side wall 72 extending downwardly from the plate-like member for attachment to the floor portion 66 of the clean door 64.
As shown in
The upper plate-like member 70 and the side wall 72 of the vortex creator 62, together with the inner surface 84 of the vortex window 58 further define a mist flow outlet 83 for directing the combined air/mist flow into the vortex chamber 74 in a helical path. Specifically, the air 79 is first mixed with the vapor 81 rising from the base reservoir 26 through the vapor opening 68 in the vortex creator mixing chamber 73. The vortex creator 62 diverts the combined air/mist horizontally through the mist flow outlet 83 into the vortex chamber 74 defined between the vortex window 58, the vortex rear housing 60 and the clean door 64. The horizontal air flow caused by the vortex creator 62 combined with the vertical inner surface 84 of the vortex window 58, as well as the natural tendency for the water mist to rise, creates a helical flow path for the air/water vapor mixture within the vortex chamber 74, as shown by arrow 75 in
The vortex is visible through the transparent vortex window 58 before it exits the vortex chamber 74 through the chamber outlet 52. To further enhance the vortex visual effect, the humidifier of the present invention can further be provided with illuminating features. In particular, the base unit 12 can further contain one or more light emitting elements 70, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), as shown in
As a result of the present invention, a humidifier is provided which creates a visually entertaining helical flow of mist, while at the same time, functions to raise the humidity level within a room or office. The visual effect is achieved with a simple and cost-effective design and an airflow is created having a more predictable and specific pattern.
Although illustrative embodiments of the present invention have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiments, and that various other changes and modifications may be effected by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.
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