US2003938A - Humidifying apparatus - Google Patents

Description

June 4, 1935.

H. 1.. HUSSON HUMIDIFYING APPARATUS Filed Feb; 27,

ATTORNEY Patented June 4, i935 STATES PATENT OFFICE v 2,tt3,933

" o arrmarns Application February 27, 1934, Serial No. 713,115

4 Claims.

This invention relates to humidifying apparatus and more particularly to an apparatus to be used in connection with heating systems to humidify the air in buildings:

5 An object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the kind described which shall be simple, efiicient, automatic in operation, and self responsive to changes either in the amount of water evaporated thereby or in the relative 1o humidity of the air aflected thereby.

With this and other objects in view one embodiment of the invention contemplates .an assembly of a plurality of horizontally disposed combination heating and evaporating sections having internal chambers fed with heating fluid,

steam, hot water or the like, in customary fashion, and having open external evaporating pockets or troughs in cascade relation and heated by conduction from the heating chambers.

0 These evaporating. pockets are supplied with water from the customary water supply of the building. Means are provided to regulate the supply of water to the evaporating troughs in accordance with the rate of evaporative consumption, comprising a float in one of the troughs acting through an electrical circuit including a mercury switch and a solenoid to open and close the water supply valve. ,Means may further be provided such'as a humidostat connected in the same circuit to effect control of the water supply in accordance with the amount of moisture contained in the air.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear from the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which the same reference numerals are supplied to identical parts in the several figures and in which Fig. 1 is a partly diagrammatic broken view in front elevation of an air heating and humidifying apparatus embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section thereof on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view in end elevation of the disconnected core of a modified form, and

Fig. 4 is a view thereof in front elevation.

In the embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, there are five horizontally disposed combined heating and evaporating sections 10,

of metal, arranged in a vertical stack and connected. by and supported on interconnecting pipe sections II in well known fashion. The sections I0 have internal chambers, not shown,

66 to receive steam, hot water. or other heating One end of each trough floor is pierced by an overflow pipe 15 which delivers excess water from each upper trough to the next below. These overflow pipes are located at alternate ends of successive troughs so that the water flows the whole length of any intermediate trough before being delivered to the next below. The overflow pipe I5 of the lowest trough is connected to a drain pipe in the building system. The entire stack is supported on the floor of the building by legs 2| attached to the lowest section I!) and provided with means such as the screws 22 whereby to adjust the stack to a level position.

A vertical supply pipe I6 is located beside the stack of sections ID and has a supply nozzle I! for each of the three upper sections l0, adapted to deliver water into the corresponding trough H. The pipe |6-is connected to the customary ,water supply 23 of the building through a reducing valve l8 and a supply valve l9 operated to open and close by a solenoid 20. Each nozzle I1 is provided with a removable closure cap 30.

The lowest section III is formed at the outlet end of its trough I4 with a well or pocket 24 in which is located a float 25. Adjacent tl e pocket is a post 26 on the top of which is pivoted a horizontal lever 21. One end of the lever is pivotally attached underneath to the float 25 and the other end of the lever carries a counterpoise' 28. A mercury switch 29 is positioned on top of the lever to tilt therewith. The counterpoise 28 may be threaded on the lever to permit of adiustment longitudinally thereon.

A connection box 3| is provided in any'convenient location and is connected by wires 32, and 33 to the customary electric current supply wires 34 and 35 of the building. Wires 36 and 31 lead from the box to the terminals of the mercury switch 29. Wire 36. is connected through the box to wire 32 and supply wire 34. Wire 31 may be connected through the box to a wire 38 leading to one terminal of a humidostat 40, from whose other terminal a wire 39 leads back to the box and is connected therethrough to a wire 4| leading to one terminal of the solenoid 26. From the other terminal of the solenoid, another wire 42 leads back to the box and is connected to the wire 33 and the supply wire 35'. Thus the mercury switch29, humidostat 40 and solenoid 26 are connected in series across the supply wires 34 and 35.

The construction and mechanics of operation of the switch, humidostat and solenoid are not described or disclosed as these are standard and well known pieces of electrical apparatus whose nature, construction and individual function are well known in commerce and manufacturing, and are furthermore not relevant to the present invention. Sufiice to say that a mercury switch such as 29 will close or open a circuit through its terminals upon being tilted in one direction or the other, a humidostat will close .or open a circuit through its terminals when exposed to air having more or less than a predeterminably variable degree of relative humidity, and a solenoid such as 20 will operate to actuate any mechanism operable by a push or a pull such as the valve l9 upon the flowing of an electric current through the solenoid.

walls and a slightly sloping inner rim terminating inwardly-in a downwardly extending vertical peripheral lip 41 adapted to be received in the trough 46. Ashort drain pipe 48 affixed in the trough 46 leads from the trough 46 to the trough M of the top section l0.

In the alternative form of core or stack shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the external stand pipe I 6 is replaced by a supply pipe 49 extending up -through the center of the stack and provided with supply apertures closeable with plugs 5| homologous to the supply nozzles l1 and caps 30 of Figs. 1 and 2.

In operation, with cold weather outside the building, the valve I3 is opened andthe intery ior chambers of the'sections l0 are filled with steam, hot water, or the like. The wires 32 and 33 are connected to the supply wires 34 and 35. The well 24 is empty and-the switch Y 29 in consequence tilted down: to the right and it pours into the top, of the overflow pipe I5 and down into the next lower trough, andso on until the water'fills the well 24, raises the float 25 and finally operates the mercury switch to break the circuit. Immediately the solenoid 26 t:goses the valve l3 and stops the flow of we r cuit open so long as the air issufficiently moist.

On the other hand, if the troughs l4 are all full of water and the'air is not yet sufiiciently moist the humidostat will keep the circuit closed at its station, but the float 25 will keep the switch 20 open and so will hold the valve |9 closed to prevent waste of water. Failure of current in the mains 34 and 35 will also keep the valve l9 closed. If the valve l9 be held open by any accidental failure, the excess water will be simply wasted down the last overflow pipe l5 into the waste system of the building.

At 'timeswhen the apparatus is working at full evaporative capacity, the water charged air coming up from the top section may be heavily enough loaded with'water to give up moisture by condensation on the first solid object contacted. This will be the inner surfaces of the housing top 44. Such condensation will gather and flow down into the trough 46 and thence by way of the pipe 48 back into the evaporating troughs I4. To facilitate the run off of such condensate, a false top52 may be put into the top 44 sloping down to enable the moisture to run down instead of gathering in hanging drops.

.A somewhat simpler and less sensitive, although often sufiicient arrangement may be made by omitting the humidostat and its wires and connecting wires 3'! directly to wire 4| in the box 3|, as by a short circuiting plug, or fuse, or the like.

The embodiments of the invention herein disclosed are illustrative merely and may be modified and departed from in many ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as pointed out in and limited solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is: I

1. An air heating and humidifying apparatus comprising a plurality of relatively vertically arranged elements each having internal chambers to receive a heating fluid and having an open external trough to receive water, means to admit a heating medium to the internal .chambers, means to supply water to one of the troughs including a valve, means to lead the water in cascade through the troughs, a float in one of the troughs, a mercury switch connected to the float to be operated thereby, and a solenoid in circuit with the switch to operate the water supply valve. 1

2. An'air heating and humidifying apparatus comprising a plurality of relatively vertically arranged elements each having internal chambers to receive a heating fluid and having an open external trough to receive water, means to admeans to supply water to one of the troughs including a valve, means to lead the water in cascade through the troughs, a float in one of the troughs, a mercury switch connected to the float.

to be operated thereby, a solenoid' in circuit with the switch to operate the water supply valve, and a circuit making and breaking humit a heating medium to the internal chambers,

midostat connected in series with the switch and the solenoid.

3. In an air humidifier, the combination'with:

means to heat air and means to supply moisture thereto, of a housing therefor having means to return moisture condensed therein to the moisture supply means comprising a memher within the top of the housing adapted to leadmoisture condensed thereon to a wall of the housing, and a trough to receive the coninto the trough. A

HARRY L, 'Hus soN. 1ov

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