US2577958A - Vertical vaporizer - Google Patents

Description

R. R. FISHER VERTICAL VAPORIZER Filed June 17, 1949 Patented Dec. 11, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a liquid vaporizer and has particularly to do with a unit which may be used in households and hospital rooms for furnishing moisture to the air and for evaporating medicament and mixing it with the vapor in the an'.

Unit vaporizers are quite common, especially that type used for bottle warmers and sterilizers where two electrodes are spaced in an electrical circuit and connected by a quantity of liquid which is vaporized by the resistance heat. The present unit is intended to be an electrical Vaporizer which can be applied to any Vessel holding liquid and which will still be a safe operating unit holding no danger to the attendant. Briey, the unit consists of an elongate member having a wick therein which carries liquid upward to spaced electrodes at the top of the unit, Here the liquid is evaporated, and the heat of the evaporation is also transmitted to an open-topped chamber which may contain any substance to be distributed to the air.

Details of the construction and operation will be apparent in the following description and claims.

Drawings accompany the specification, and the various views thereof may be briefly described as:

Figure l, a perspective View showing the unit in operation.

Figure 2, a vertical section showing all the parts.

Figures 3, e, and 5, horizontal sections on lines 3 3, 4-4, 5-5 of Figure 2 respectively.

Figure 6, a detailed view showing the supporting arm.

As shown in Figure 1, the vertical vaporizer Ill is vertically disposed in a container l2, there being three equally spaced horizontally extending arms l'4 which rest on the edge of the container and support the unit as shown.

The vertical vaporizer consists of two portions I6 and I8 which are joined centrally at 20, there being a dove-tailed joint 22 on each side to prevent lateral shifting and insure a fair seal when the edges are cemented together. The resulting unit is hollow at the lower portion, leaving a central bore 24 as shown in Figure 5. At the top of the bore 24 are electrodes 26 semi-circular in shape and between which is interposed an asbestos wick 28 having a central portion and radially extending wings filling a space between the electrodes. The wick extends down to the bottom of the bore 24 which is open at the lower end at 30. The electrodes 2B are connected into an elec- 2 tric circuit by leads 32 extending to a plug-in cord 34.

Above the electrodes 26 is formed a curved passage 40 which is an outlet for steam created by the resistance of the water between the electrodes in the asbestos wick. In the portion I8 of the unit an open-topped cup 42 is formed having a recess 44, which, it will be seen, is positioned directly adjacent the electrodes. This recess or cavity 44 may be used to contain medicament and will receive heat from the electrodes and from the outlet passage 40.

In the operation of the unit, it is necessary r only to position it in a glass or other jar containing water.

The radial extensions I4 are notched at 48 to position the unit in a stable manner. The asbestos wick 28 will carry water up to the electrodes 26 where the resistance created by the electrical circuit will create steam and heat, thus discharging vapors from the medicine in the hole 44 and also steam vapors through passage 40. It will be noted that all of the electrical parts are completely protected and that there is no possibility of contact therewith. Even if the unit is tipped over or spilled, there is no large body of heated water which could cause any injury. The heat area of the unit is sufliciently high that the water in the container would remain at approximately room temperature. On

l the other hand, the quantity of water being fed to the electrodes is so small at any one time that the change into steam will be almost instantaneous.

What I claim is:

l. A vertical vaporizer unit comprising two elongate shells of dielectric material having complemental surfaces to join together to form a central passage and tubular member, a cup-like recess formed at the top end of one shell directly adjacent the top of the central passage, said central passage being curved at the top to direct emitting vapor over the top of said recess, supporting means extending radially from points spaced just below said recess, electrodes located in said `central recess substantially at the location of said supporting means, and a wick of insulating material interposed between said electrodes to separate the same, and extending downward to the bottom of said passage a substantial distance below said electrodes.

2. A vertical vaporizer unit comprising a long tubular shell of dielectric material having a cuplike recess at the top, the central passage of the shell terminating adjacent the top of said recess vat one edge thereof, supporting means extending outwardly from said shell at points adjacent said recess to support the recess above the top of a vessel, a pair of short spaced electrodes positioned adjacent the top 0f the central passage substantially at the location of said supporting means, and a wick of insulating material interposed between said electrodes to space them apart and extending downwardly to the bottom of the passage a substantial distance below said electrodes and supporting means.

3. A Vertical vaporizer as defined in claim 2 in which the wick is a funicular member throughout most of its length and is provided with two opposed web-like extensions at the top tolie between said electrodes.

4. A vertical vaporizer unit comprising a long tubular shell of dielectric material 4having a cuplike recess at the top, the central passage of the shell terminating adjacent the top of the recess at one edge thereof, supporting means extending outwardly from saidshell at points .adjacent said recess to support the recess above the top of a vessel, a pair of short spaced electrodes positioned adjacent the top of the central passage substantially at the location oi said supporting means, and means to transfer water from the lower portion of said shell to a space between said electrodes whereby immersion of said lower portion will eiect operation of said unit when said electrodes are connected in an electrical circuit.

ROY R. FISHER.

REFEBENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1&452574 Slepan Apr. 24, 1923 1,599,912 Naujoks Sept. 14, 1926 1,977,232 Grinder Oct. 16, 1934 2,140,516 .Cowan Dec. 20, 1938 12,235,879 y Hanks Vet al. Mar. ,25, 1941

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