CA1222202A - Furnace register humidifier - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT
A furnace register humidifier having a rectilinear body formed by a pair of opposed side walls and a pair of end walls. A peripheral lip extends around an open end of the body for supporting the latter from perimeter edges of a floor furnace duct opening. A water trough is formed in an interior of the body extending along a length thereof such that an air flow channel is formed between the trough and a first one of the pair of side walls. The trough is adapted to receive a portion of a water wick extending across the air flow channel.
A support is provided for the extended portion of the wick.

Description

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FURNACE REGISTE~ ~IU~ID[FIER
_ _ BACKGROUND OF TH~ INVENTION
The present invention relates to a furnace register humidifier of a type adapted to be inserted into a floor opening.
The majority of residential buildings having forced air heatLng employ Eloor registers supported by the floor area around the opening for the registers. Elumidifiers for such a system either have to be installed in the furnace duct, complete with a water line and an electronic control system to 10 control both the rate of water evaporation and the amount of water in the system or, alternatively, a separate self-contained humidifer operating Erom a single location must be used. The latter units are generalLy noisy, take up space and -lnclude a relatively unrelLable assembly oE moving parts.
U.S. Patent number 2,161,001, Lssued to Bedol on June 6, 1939 discloses an alternative to a separate motor driven humidLELer. The Bedol devLce includes a shield adapted to be fitted over a E]oor register and shaped to deElect the upwardLy rising alr through an approximate 90` angle past a liquid receptacle within the shield. Although vapour Erom the liquid enters the aLr strealn, since only the surEace oE the liquid contacts the air, the rate at which vapour enters the air stream is relatively low. ~oreover, the obtrusiveness of the shield into a room presents a serious disadvantage.
An alternative humidiEier for use in combination with the register of a hot air furnace is disclosed by U.S. Patent number 3,227,064, issued on January 6, 1966 to Spangle.
Spangle discloses a grille unit for use with a register ~ ~'D

in a vertical walL, having a liquid trough along its base and a plurality of spaced apart water-absorbing strips, the bottoms of which are immersed in the wacer oE the trough. Air ~lowing by the water saturated strips becomes humidiEied before exiting therefrom into a room. However, only the air which actually contacts one of the strips in passing through the grille is effective in vapourizing the water. Moreover, the construction of the Spangle grille does not extend itself readily to a grille unit for use with a floor register.
U.S. Patent number 3,673,770, issued July 4, 1972 to Novak discloses a humidifier attachment for a vertical wall register consisting of a water filled box with hooks to hang the box immediately below the register and artificial plants having a wick-like rear surface immersed in the box to put moisture into the air.
U.S. Patent number ~,226,17~, issued October 7, 1980 to Vesper, discloses another type oE vertical wall reglster humldLEier similar to the Spangle humLdLEier.
U.S. Patent number ~,307,656, Lssued December 29, 198L to Vesper, dlscloses a humLcllELer Eor use Ln combinatLon with a Eloor register whLch utLL-Lzes a deElector Eor deElecting upwardly rising aLr through a plurality oE vertically spaced apart evaporation plates. The Vesper devlce aEoresaid ls adapted to be located atop the floor register and therefore represents an unsightly, obtruslve mechanism.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention there is provided a furnace register humidifier which includes a substantially rectilinear body having a pair oE opposed side walls, a pair of end walls ~z~

and a peripheral lip extending around an open end of the body for supporting it Erom a perimeter of a Eloor furnace duct opening. A water trough is formed ln an interior of the body which extends along a length thereof such that an air flow 5channel is formed between the trough and the first one oE the side walls. The trough is adapted to receive a portion of a water wick the remainder of which extends across the air flow channel. Means are provided for supporting the extended portion of the water wick.
10The supporting means may be a second water trough extending along the length of an lnterior oE the body proximate the Eirst side wall.
Advantageously the humidiEier may include an elongated rib extending over the air flow channel along a length thereoE
15and positioned so as to support the water wick intermediate the troughs above open ends thereof.
Alternatively a single trough may be positioned between the side wall such that a pair of aLr Elow channels are defLned between the trough ancl each oE the sLde walls. The 20trough may be adapted to recèive a water wLck the sides oE
which extend over an open end oE the ~rough across the respective air Elow channels. Means Eor aEEixing the wick encls proxlmate the sLde walLs may be provided as may means Eor holding a centrllL portlon oE the wick proximate a bottom of 25the trough.
Advantageously, the water wick may have a porosity sufficiently high to permit air flow therethrough, but at the same time low enough to permit sufficient water flow along the wick without dripping. The size oE the holes in the water 30wick may be sufficiently small and of a suEficiently high density to Eilter the air passing therethrough.
Preferably, the ends of the wick may be attached proximate a bottom end of respective ones oE the side walls such that upon air passing therethrough, the wick has a sufficient length between the trough open end and the attached wick end to bellow out. The side walls may extend beyond the end walls so as to provide associated side wall attachment ends. A pair of elastomeric fasteners may be provide to attach each of the wick ends when folded around the respective side wall attachment ends to the latter. The holding means may be a rod extending substantially the length of the trough Eor placement atop the wick to hold the latter down. The rod may removably engage the end walls.
A griLle may be provided having adjustable openings whlch are removably engagable with an open end of the rectilinear body. Pre~erably the wick is made of a fabric material.
~nlike prior known devices, the present invention provides a device which is completely unobtrusive, being located below the floor level and which is extremely slmple to maintain in operatlon. ALl that ls requlred oi the user ls simply to refi:Ll the trough Erom tLme to tlme wLth water. The present lnventLon has no movLng parts and, accordingly, is slgniElcantly more relLabLe than pr-Lor known devices havlng motors and the llke.

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~RIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DR~WINGS
___ _ In drawings of a preEerred embodiment oE the invention, Figure 1 i~5 a perspective view of that portion of the furnace register humidifier that fits into a floor receptacle with a portion cut away;
Figure 2 is a plan view of a grille which is adapted to fit onto the portion of Figure l;
Figure 3 is an end elevation view in section along line 3-3 of Figure l;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the invention; and, Figure 5 is an end elevat:Lon view in section 5 along line 5-5 of Figure 4.

DETAILRD DE~CRIPTION WITH REFERENCE TO TUE DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of the Eurnace register humidifier as shown in Figures 1 and 3 consists of a rectilinear body 10 having a pair of slde walls 12, a pair oE end walls 14, and a peripheral l:Lp :Ll extending around an open end o~ the side walls 12 and end walls :14. The dimens:Lons of the body 10 are such that the si.de wal.ls 12 and end wa:Lls 14 pass through a heating duct outlet opening (not shown) :Ln a :ELoor oE a building having a forced air Eurnace w.Ltll the perimeter oE the floor duct open:Lng engag:Lng lip 11 wh:Lch thereby supports rectilinear body 10.

A trough 13 extends along the length of the interior of the body l0 having trough side walls 16 and 18 joined to the interior of end walls 14. Trough 13 is closed at both ends so that it can retain a fluid such as water. End walls 14 e~tend down from lip 11 a slightly shorter distance than side walls z~

12, thereby forming sLde wall attachment ends L5. The space between trough side walls 16 and 18 and body side walls 12 deEine a pair of air Elow channels Eor permitting the passage of air therethrough.
A water wick 20 consisting of an eLongated flexible water conducting material is inserted into the trough 13 such that the central portion thereof is held in place at the bottom of the trough 13 by means of a clip 22. An alternative method of so holding the cloth is to use a weighted rod ~not shown).
Water wick 20 is then draped over the upper edges of trough side walls 16 and 18 and then looped around the bottom of side walls 12 and retained in place by means of an elastic member

2~ engaging the cloth aga~nst respective side wall attachment ends 15. The length of the water wick 20 is such that sufficient slack exists to permLt the water wick 20 to bellow up in response to upwardly rising air as shown in Figure 3.
As shown in Figure 2, grille 26 has a rectangular sleeve proximate an outer edge thereof dimensLoned so as to snugly slidably engage an open end oE body 10 and thereby hold grille 26 in place. Grille 26 also has a plurallty oE spaced apart rectiLinear apertures 28 reguLarly spaced along the length thereof. SlidabLy mounted to the underside oE grLlle 26 Ls a second plate 30 also having a plurallty oE regularly spaced apart rectLlinear apertures of substantially the same size and spacing as apertures 28. A knob 3~ afEixed to the slidable plate 30 allows manual sliding adJustment of the grille 26 by adjusting the amount of overlap oE apertures 28 with apertures 32.
Water wick 20 is designed with a pluralLty oE uniformly spaced small apertures over the surface thereof, thereby providing the latter with sufficient porosity to permit aLr to pass therethrough. At the same time the apertures are not so large and numerous so as to prevent conduction of suEEicient water so as to adequately humldify a room. Adjustment of the size and spacing of the wick holes is also selected to prevent excessive water conduction which would -result in dripping from the bottom oE the wick where it is attached to the side wall attachment ends 15. The size and spacing of the wick apertures obviously will depend on the frequency with which the forced air Eurnace turns on and the amount of air flowing out each floor opening. By choosing a high density of small holes the water wick also functions to filter the air passing therethrough. The trough may require filling anywhere from approximately three to eight hours depending upon the room humidLty required. ~illLng may be accomplished by simply opening grille 26 and filling the trough 13 with a water can, preferably having a narrow spout at the end thereoE.
It will be appreciated that instead of providing a sLngle rectilinear sheet oE wick 20, one may instead provide a plurality oE spaced apart strips or a sLngle wick wherein a plurality oE sectLons thereoE are cut out so as to permLt the passage therethrough of air. Ilowever7 the EiLtering eEEect of the wick in such a case is reduced. In this case it would not be necessary to provlde a water w:Lck having a relatively high porosity to permit air flow therethrough.
It is also clear to those skilLed in the art that other means of attaching the ends of water wick 20 so that there is a reasonable expanse oE wick material over the air flow channels can be achieved. For example, members can be attached to the bottom of trough 13 which extend out either side across the air flow channels to which the wick 20 can be attached.
It has been found that by providing some slack in the water wick 20 so as to permit it to bellow upwardly upon being impacted by upwardly rising hot air, a much more efficient evaporation process occurs. This may be in part due to the greater amount oE cloth apertures through which the hot air may pass as well as the greater conductivity properties of the water wick 20 when in a relaxed rather than a tensioned condition.
It will also be obvious that the device will be operable even if the ends of water wlck 20 are attached proximate the top end of side walls 12 rather than at the bot~om end.
However, because of the smaller amount of cloth then in the air stream, it is e~pected that a Lower rate of evaporation would result.
An alternative embodiment oE the furnace register humidifier is shown in Figures 4 and 5 as consist:Lng of side walls 46 and end walls 50 in a rectilinear shape and having a perLpheraL lip 54 ~Eor supporting the structure Erom a standard furnace duct opening. A pair oE trou~hs 48 are Eormed by interior walls 42 the bottoms 4~ of whLch are curved to ~oin the exterior side walls 46. Side walls 42 extend along the length of the humidifLer 40 and are integral with end walls 50. An air Elow channel 62 is formed between the side walls 42. An elongated rib 64 extends across the air flow channel and is positioned so as to support a water wick 56 slightly above upper ends of interior walls 42. A pair oE U-shaped rods 60 are dimensioned to fit within troughs ~8 and are used to hold down ends of water wick 56 and thereby prevent them from floating to the surface. Each trough ~8 is sealed so as to be able to contain water 70.
In operation, water travels along the water wick 56 Erom each trough 48 thereby keeping the latter in a moist condition. Furnace air flowing up through air flow channel 62 passes through water wick 56 and causes evaporation of the water therein. Because the portion of the water wick 56 which extends over the air flow channel 62 does not have any portion which droops below the upper ends of side walls 42 there is no tendency for any dripping to take place. Consequently, it is unimportant as to the inherent porosity of the water wick or any of its other properties in order for it to function adequately. Any excess water conducted out of one water trough must simply flow into an opposite water trough so that the two water troughs compensate the water flow lrom each other. Over a period of time, the filtering effect of the wick reduces due to a build-up oE fine partLcles captured from the air and this portion oE the wick becomes hardened and ceases to conduct water.
The IJ~shaped rods 60 may be dispensed with by employing a rlgid water wlck 56. Such a water wick may be formed, Eor example, by utlllzing a wire mesh to support a flexlble wick or, alternatively, by forming a pluraLity of spaced apart rigid ribs ln a flexible material. In either of the latter cases the elongated ribs 64 may be dispensed with because of the self-supportlng characteristics of a rlgid water wick.
Other variations, modificatiorls, and departures Lying within the spirit of the invention and scope as defined by the appended claims will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

Claims (13)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A forced air furnace register humidifier, comprising:
(a) a substantially rectilinear body adapted for placement in a furnace duct outlet, having a pair of opposed side walls, a pair of end walls and a generally open top;
(b) means for supporting said body from a peri-meter of a floor furnace duct outlet;
(c) a container for holding water having bottom and side walls formed in the interior of said body;
(d) an air flow channel formed in the interior of said body to allow passage of the air forced from said furnace; and (e) an air-permeable, porous, water-absorbent web extending across said air flow channel in the path of said forced air, wherein a portion of said web is located in said water container.

2. A furnace register humidifier as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for supporting comprises a hori-zontal lip extending from the upper edge of said recti-linear body.

3. A furnace register humidifier as defined in claim 1 wherein a wall of said air flow channel also forms a wall of said water container.

4. A furnace register humidifier as defined in claim 1 wherein said water container comprises a lengthwise trough.

5. A furnace register humidifier as defined in claim 4 wherein one of said side walls of said trough is formed by a side wall of said rectilinear body.

6. A furnace register humidifier as defined in claim 5 wherein said air channel is rectangular and shares a common lengthwise wall with said water container.

7. A furnace register humidifier as defined in claim 1 wherein said air flow channel is formed centrally in said rectilinear body between parallel water-containing channels.

8. A furnace register humidifier as defined in claim 7 further comprising frame means for securing a portion of said web in each of said parallel water-containing channels and for suspending a central portion of said web across said air flow channel.

9. A furnace register humidifier as defined in claim 1 wherein said portion of said web in said water con-tainer is held below said portion of said web extending across said air flow channel, and wherein said web does not contact said rectilinear body outside of said water container.

10. A furnace register humidifier as defined in claim 1 wherein a pair of air flow channels are formed between said water container and respective ones of said side walls of said rectilinear body, further comprising means for holding a central portion of said wick proximate the bottom of said water container and means for affixing -the ends of said web proximate said side walls.

11. A furnace register humidifier as defined in claim 10 wherein said ends of said web are attached proximate a bottom end of respective ones of said side walls.

12. A furnace register humidifier as defined in claim 11 further comprising a pair of elastomeric fasteners and wherein each of said web ends are folded around respective bottom portions of said side walls and are retained by respective ones of said elastomeric faste-ners looped around respective bottom portions of said side walls over the associated web ends.

13. A furnace register humidifier as defined in claim 12 wherein said holding means comprises a removable rod extending substantially the full length of said trough for placement atop said wick.