US1817442A - Humidifier - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 4, 1931. J. w. MARTIN. JR

HUMIDI FIER Filed May 26, 1926 lNVE NTOR JimwJW- Marh'n I Jr- Patented Aug. 4, .1931

' uni Tao s'rATas PATENT oi-Pica My present invention is embodied in a humldifier primarily intended for maintaining a desired amount of moisture in the'air of living rooms, oflices, factories, etc., and while s peculiarly adapted for use in combination: with radiators of steam or hot water heating systems, it is welladapted for use wherever it.

' is desirable to moisten atmosphere; also where liquids other than water are employed as, for instance, disinfectants, perfumes, etc.

I My humidifier includes means for contmuously malntammg 1n moist or wet condition, a relatively large area of fibrous surface, preferably, in the form of a multi licit of travelling belts or endless bands 0 wic material which may be mounted on cooperati-ng rollers, one of which is located so that the wick belts are carried below the level of water or other liquid in a tank, while the other is above the level, preferably located so that the bands travel vertically. Preferably, there are two sets of such bands mounted on the same shaft-axes, but one set engages pulleys of smaller diameter than the other, so that there are two up-travelling and two down-travelling rows of wick material presented to the transverse draft which is to be humidified thereby. An important feature of m invention is continuously maintaining suc transverse draft by means of a fan of the propeller type that is relatively large and slow-moving.

' Hence, vibration, noise and violent drafts are avoided, while'continuous efiicient operation is assured.

' An'electric motor suitably mounted, pref- 1 erably within the casing of the apparatus,

drives a countershaft, through a worm gear whereby the countershaft has relatively slow speed, and the slow speed fan, is driven from this shaft. This counters'haft also drives one or both of the wick supporting shafts through a second worm gear whereby a yet lower speed, as low as may be desired, can be prede- 5 termined for the travel of the wicks upward ervoir.

In order to be of any real utility, apparatus of this type must be operated so as to efiiciently evaporate surprisingly large amounts of the water, and I have discovered that as a from and downward into the water in the resresult of the evaporation, the water in the reservoir'will become overloaded with natural mineral salts, dust and othernon-volatile matter, tosuch an extent as to clog and greatly impair. the. efiiciency of the evaporating 5 surfaceafiorded by the wick bands. 0 avoi this, and also to provide for frequent refillings that are necessary, the reservoir is nip (1 with a float-controlled inlet cock,

w ere y the water is automaticall main- Q tained at the desired level and, in com ination with such automatic .su ply, there is also an overflow waste pipe, t e two being so designed that when the cock operates it supphes a substantial overplus of water which 5; runs ofi through the waste pipe and so keepsthe reservoir water as clean and pure as may be-desired.

The. apparatus is peculiarly adapted for location adjacent the end of a radiator, but substantially out of contact therewith. In this situation, the air is drawn into the fan by inflow which tends to be along radial lines of a hemisphere, the radius of which depends on the size of the fan. Hence, a large fan will be quite effective for drawing in a large partpf the heated air, when the radiator is 0t; if the heat be turned off the radiator, the air in'theroom is just as accessible to the fan as it #iasbcfore. This is an entirel novel so arrangement, so far as I am aware. n prior devices itiiere the hot draft has been supplied through a register from a hot .air furnace, closing the re ister results in stopping the draft, thereby iscontinuing the humidi yin at operation and where motors have been usetf,

they have not been arranged in effective draft inducing relation to a radiator or other heater.

The above and other features of m invention-may be more fully understood om the following descri tion, in connection with the accompanying" rawing, in which The figure is a partly schematic view, showing the humidifier in vertical section, in operating relation to a radiator in elevation, a humidostat and operating circuits being schematically indicated.

In this drawing, the humidifier, A, is close to but spaced apart from the end of the radi- I ator indicated at B. If desired, a humido stat, 0, controls flow of electrical current from one side of a line, a, through a lead, 6, 0, d and a return, 0, wh1ch furn1shes the power for drivin the operating motor described below. n adjustable rheostat, B, may be added for manual control to determine the normal maximum speed for-the m0- tor.

While the details of the humidifier, A, may be varied within wide limits", I perfer to assemble the parts in an exterior casing, which may be of sheet metal com rising upright side members, 1, a top, 2, an a rear wall, 3, having a relatively large openln 4, through which air may be drawn by the an, 5, wh ch is preferably surrounded by convergln walls, 6, 6, the exit portion of wh1ch, at is preferably ap roximately the same diameter as the fan, w ereby the draft propelled 1n the direction of the arrows results in establishing suction over the inlet 4, which s shown as of substantially larger diameter than the fan. In the bottom of the casing is formed a tank, 8, in which dischargesa su ply cock, 9, connected by pipe, 10, wlth t e usual water supply system. Turning off operation of the cock to. maintain a desired level of water in the reservoir, is conventionally indicated as being by means'of a lever, 11, controlled by a float, 12. The level is further controlled by the overflow pipe, 13, which extends through the bottom of the'reservoir as a waste pipe, 14, which maybe carried outdoors or connected to any suitable drainage system.

In the reservoir 8, is rotatably supported a shaft, 15, carrying sets of relatively per part of the casing, also rotatably mounted, is a similar shaft, 15a, carrying a set of larger pulleys, 16a and a smaller set of pulleys, 17a. Each pair of larger pulleys, 16, 16a, has fitted thereon abelt, 18, which is preferably a cylindrical endless band of wick material, while each pair of the smaller pulleys, 17 17a, carries a similar belt, 19. I thus provide across the front of the apparatus, four rows of wicks in staggered relation, and the number of wicks in each row will de end on the number of pulleys, which may e as few or many as may be desired.

The belts may be driven at the desiredlow speed and the fan at any desired, higher speed, in any suitable way. Preferably, however, the fan, 5, is keyed to a shaft, 20, rotatably mounted in a bearing, 21, carried by a spider, 22, which may be secured to the wall, 6, in any desired way as by spot welding or riveting. The forward end of shaft 20 is driven through beveled gears, 23, the driving gear being mounted on countershaft, 24, su ported in brackets 25, 26. This countershai t, 24, also carries a worm, 27, meshing witha worm gear, 28, which drives the shaft 15a,

ar e pulleys, 16, and smaller pulleys, 17. In t e up-.

8 will cause opening of the cock, 9, until the v rising water lifts the float and closes the valve, the aparatus being proportioned so that the outlet of the overflow pipe, 13, will be below the level of the water so as to be drainin ofl substantial quantities thereof.

It will e obvious to those familiar with ap- "paratus of this kind, that there is a range of water level suflicient to permit this. Even in carefully designed apparatus, the valve affords suflicient resistance to operation so that the water level mustfall considerably below normal before the float 12 will have suflicient 'excess weight to open the valve, and it must also rise considerably above normal before. the float will have enough excess floatation to close the valve. Then, if the capacity 'of overflow pipe 13 is suflicient smaller than the capacity of the su ply, said overflow pipe e t e may be substantial y submerged befor float closes the valve and thereafter draining off of the water to the level of the overflow will not be sufficient to cause operation of the float by gravity. The current then being turned onto drive motor 32 the countershaft, 24, will be driven through 29, 30, at the right speed for operating the fan, 5, through gears 23. By reason of the reducing gear, the fan will be driven at much lower speed'than in the ordinary case, where the fan is mounted directly on the armature shaft of the motor. Consequently, the fan will be relatively noise less and the draft, a breeze as gentle as may be desired. As the rate of evaporation of the water will depend in an important degree upon the speed of the fan, the gearing of the wick drive shaft, 15a, through thereducing worm, 27, and worm gear, 28, is of advantage as making these speeds interdependent. Moreover, the speed of the wicks may be as slow as desired. This is an important feature because it is desirable to give the wicks time to lose part of their wetness, so as to expose the relatively great evaporating area afforded by fibers and pores of the wicking, which are more or less sealed when the wicks are soaking wet. I prefer to have-the wicks travel upward in the rows adjacent the fan reason of the fact that the excess water has been then removed sufiiciently to expose a maximum area of wet fiber, to the draft.

The arrangement shown has the advantage that above and below the converging wall, 6, the casing not only affords housing for the moving parts and for the reservoir, but also affords eddy spaces in which the air circulates more slowly than in the draft, affording further opportunity for the upper and lower portions of the wick belts and also for the surface of the water in the reservoir, to moisten the air. In this connection, it will be understood that the straight, horizontal arrows are merely indicative of the main draft, no attempt having been made to show the spreading or eddying of this draft which necessarily results from injector action and vacuum tendency where the back of the casing is closed in and the front is wide open, as in the present case. Also, no attempt is made to show the natural upward draft which is so universally known as characterizing operation of all steam and hot water radiators and it will be obvious that the laterally presented inlet to the fan is merely in non-positive or inductive relation to such draft, taking only so much as the fan is able to suck in laterally therefrom.

I claim:

1. A humidifying apparatus adapted to be placed in inductive relation to a draft producing air heater and including a casing, a fan for moving air through the casing, a water reservoir in the lower portion of said casing, a plurality of separate belts of absorbent material arran ed to afford free paths for flow of air etween them and means for en porting them for vertical travel 'upwar water in said reservoir and in the path of said draft from the fan, said supporting means,

including cooperating rota supports for said belts, at least one .of whlch is positively rotated; and means for operating said fan 45 and said belts at widely different but interdependent speeds, including a rotary electric motor, a shaft driven thereby through a reducing ear, gearing between the shaft and the fan esigned for lproper speed of the 50 fan, and aworm on the s aft cooperating with the worm gear to drive said belts at correspondingly reduced speed.

2. A humidifying apparatus adapted to be placed in inductive relation to a draft 55 inducing air heater and including a casing a fan for moving air through the casing, said heater, a water reservoir in the lower portion of said casing, a plurality of separate belts of absorbent material and means for sup- 50 orting them for vertical travel upward rom and downward into water in said reservoir, in staggered alternate relation, including cooperating rotary sup orts for said belts, at least one of which 1s positively ro- 65 tated; and means for operating said fan and said belts at widely different but interdependent speeds.

3. Humidifying apparatus, including a water reservoir, float-controlled, intermittently operating means for over-supplying water to the reservoir when the level falls and an overflow drain pipe designed and operating to cause said overflow to become deeply submerged before the float shuts off the supply thereby causing substantial drainage of water through the overflow when the supply operates, upwardly extendin belts of absorbent material and means or continuous 1y rotating them at slow speed, and a fan and means for operating it to create circulation of air impinging among and around said belts.

4. An air heater arranged to create and facilitate an induced upward draft of heated air in a room to be heated, in combination with a fan having an air intake laterally applied in inductive relation to suck in part of said draft, without preventing said upward draft, and means for maintaining water in the evaporative relation to the outlet draft of said fan.

Signed at New York in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 25th day of May, A. D. 1926.

' JAMES W. MARTIN, JR.

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