Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
  • F24F6/00—Air-humidification, e.g. cooling by humidification
  • F24F6/02—Air-humidification, e.g. cooling by humidification by evaporation of water in the air
  • F24F6/04—Air-humidification, e.g. cooling by humidification by evaporation of water in the air using stationary unheated wet elements
  • F24F6/043—Air-humidification, e.g. cooling by humidification by evaporation of water in the air using stationary unheated wet elements with self-sucking action, e.g. wicks
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
  • F24F11/00—Control or safety arrangements
  • F24F11/0008—Control or safety arrangements for air-humidification
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
  • F24F13/00—Details common to, or for air-conditioning, air-humidification, ventilation or use of air currents for screening
  • F24F13/02—Ducting arrangements
  • F24F13/06—Outlets for directing or distributing air into rooms or spaces, e.g. ceiling air diffuser
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
  • F24F6/00—Air-humidification, e.g. cooling by humidification
  • F24F2006/008—Air-humidifier with water reservoir

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to an evaporative humidifier and an indoor climate controlling system using such an evaporative humidifier.
• a humidifier is an appliance that increases humidity (moisture) in a single room or in an entire house.
• the most commonly used humidifier is an evaporative or wick humidifier including a water reservoir, a wick immersed in water and a fan adjacent to the wick.
• the reservoir is a containing tank of water filled prior to and/or during operation and provides water for a moisture output.
• the wick is a water screen, a water absorbing medium or a filter that absorbs water from the reservoir.
• the fan creates an air flow which passes through the wick and carries moisture into the room, thus aiding in the evaporation of the water within the wick and the enhancement of humidity.
• a traditional evaporative humidifier usually includes a large fan arranged in a fan housing and corresponding large-area grilles extending almost entirely over a rotary plane of the fan for redirecting the humidified air out of the humidifier.
• This traditional evaporative humidifier has a disadvantage of not allowing for a large user interface arrangement since an upper surface of the evaporative humidifier is at large occupied by the grille.
• the large-area grilles or other attempts to redirect the humidified air at an edge of the fan to a middle of the fan will increase the pressure drop of the fan housing, reduce the efficiency of the fan and result in a loud noise of the fan, thus lowering the efficiency rating of the evaporative humidifier.
• the invention aims at totally or partly overcoming one or more of the drawbacks mentioned above.
• an evaporative humidifier comprising a water reservoir, a wick unit and a fan unit.
• the wick unit is configured to absorb water from the water reservoir.
• the fan unit is arranged within a fan housing and configured to force an air flow to flow through the wick unit.
• the fan housing comprises a top cover unit defining at least one annular air outlet at an outer part adjacent a circumference of the top cover unit. The annular air outlet allows a larger central user interface unit (UI), which could be well received by a user.
• UI central user interface unit
• a bottom wall of the top cover unit has an overall shape of an aerodynamic design for directing air in the fan housing to flow toward the annular air outlet when the fan rotates.
• the aerodynamic design is a streamline design of a convex shape, such as substantially U shape, substantially V shape or substantially trapezoid shape.
• a large-area user interface unit is mounted on the top cover unit and surrounded by the annular air outlet.
• the user can feel the air coming out by his/her wrist, which can be a very convenient way for the user to feel better the strength of the outgoing airflow, alternatively or additionally, he/she can also look at an indicator (e.g., LED) on the UI which gives an visual indication of the strength of the airflow.
• an indicator e.g., LED
• the wick unit comprises a wick, a wick holder for mounting the wick and a float arranged in the wick holder for associating with a water level in the water reservoir and wherein the fan unit comprises a motor and an actuator for actuating the motor, in operation the float is such arranged in the wick holder that the float is guided by the wick holder and buoyed by the water in the water reservoir so that the operation of the evaporative humidifier is controlled based on, at least in part, the water level in the water reservoir.
• the actuator is configured to remain the motor running for a period of time after the water level is below a water level threshold and then stop the motor.
• the actuator may be: a sensor-based actuator, which actuates the motor if the sensed height of the float is up to or higher than a predetermined height; or a contact component, which actuates the motor if the float collides the contacting component.
• the wick and/or the float can be removed from the wick holder for easily cleaning.
• the wick holder forms a substantially vertical guide along which the float is configured to move.
• the float in operation can float a displacement in the range of several millimeters.
• the float clicks into the wick holder.
• the wick holder is heavy enough not to float when it experiences a buoyancy force from the float.
• a humidity sensor for sensing an external air humidity of the room is such arranged on an outer housing of the evaporative humidifier that it is separated from and not interfered by freshly humidified outgoing air.
• the evaporative humidifier further comprises a program control unit configured to ensure that sensing the external air humidity is only performed after the fan unit has been operating for a first period of time and/or the reading of the sensed external air humidity is frozen for a second period of time after the fan unit stops operating so as not to confuse the user by a sharply increment of the reading caused by the humidified air inside the evaporative humidifier.
• the first and/or the second period of time is 10 minutes.
• the program control unit is further configured to automatically actuate the fan unit when the sensed external air humidity is lower than a preset humidity.
• the present invention also provides an indoor climate controlling system comprising the aforementioned evaporative humidifier and a main control unit coupled to the evaporative humidifier, wherein the main control unit is configured to automatically control the operation of the evaporative humidifier.
• Fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of an evaporative humidifier 100 in an assembled state according to an example of the present invention
• Fig. 2 is a schematic structural view of an upper portion 1 10 of the evaporative humidifier 100 in Fig. 1 ;
• Fig. 3 is a schematic structural view of a wick unit 1201 in a lower portion 120 of the evaporative humidifier 100 in Fig. 1 ;
• Fig. 4 is a schematic structural view of a water reservoir 1202 in the lower portion 120 of the evaporative humidifier 100 in Fig. 1 ;
• Fig. 5 is a finished product view of an evaporative humidifier according to an embodiment of the invention.
• Fig. 6 is a schematic top view of Fig. 5;
• Fig. 7 is a schematic block diagram showing a method for controlling a humidity display according to the present invention.
• Fig. 8 is a schematic block diagram showing a method for controlling the rotation of a fan according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
• an evaporative humidifier 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises an upper portion 1 10 and a lower portion 120.
• a fan unit 1 101 is arranged in the upper portion 1 10 while a water reservoir 1202 and a wick unit 1201 are arranged in the lower portion 120.
• the wick unit 1201 is configured to absorb water from the water reservoir 1202 and the fan unit 1 101 is arranged within a fan housing 1 102 and configured to force an air flow to flow through the wick unit 1201.
• the fan unit 1 101 includes a fan 1 101 1 , an electric motor 1 1012 and an actuator 1105 for actuating the motor 1 1012.
• the fan housing 1 102 comprises a top cover unit 1 103 defining at least one annular air outlet 1 104 at an outer part adjacent a circumference of the top cover unit 1 103.
• a bottom wall 11031 of the top cover unit 1103 has an overall shape of an aerodynamic design for directing air in the fan housing 1 102, e.g., at the center of the fan housing 1 102, to flow toward the annular air outlet 1 104 when the fan 1 101 1 rotates.
• the aerodynamic design is a streamline design of a convex shape, such as a substantially U shape, substantially V shape or substantially trapezoid shape.
• a large-area user interface (UI) unit having a UI 1 106 and a control circuit 1 107 for controlling the display of the UI 1106 is mounted on the top cover unit 1103 and surrounded by the annular air outlet 1104.
• UI 1106 surrounded by the annual air outlet 1104, the user can feel the air coming out by his/her wrist, which can be a very convenient way for the user to feel better the strength of the outgoing airflow, in addition to looking at an indicator
• the wick unit 1201 comprises a wick 1201 1 , a wick holder 12012 for mounting the wick 1201 l and a float 12013 arranged in the wick holder 12012 for associating with a water level in the water reservoir 1202.
• the float 12013 is such arranged in the wick holder 12012 that it is buoyed by the water in the water reservoir 1202 so that the operation of the evaporative humidifier 100 is controlled based on, at least in part, the water level in the water reservoir 1202.
• the wick holder 12012 forms a substantially vertical guide along which the float 12013 is configured to move.
• the actuator 1105 is configured to remain the motor running for a period of time after the water level is below a water level threshold and then stop the motor.
• the actuator 1105 may be: a sensor-based actuator, which actuates the motor if the sensed height of the float is up to or higher than a predetermined height; or a contact component (for instance a contact switch), which actuates the motor 1 1012 if the float 12013 (for instance its ball-shaped tip portion 12014) collides the contacting component.
• the wick 12011 and/or the float 12013 can be removed from the wick holder 12012 for easily cleaning.
• the float 12013 in operation can float a displacement in the range of several millimeters, for instance 5-100 mm.
• a humidity sensor 150 (shown in Fig. 1) for sensing an external air humidity out of the humidifier is such arranged on an outer housing 130 of the evaporative humidifier 100 that it is separated from and not interfered by freshly humidified outgoing air.
• the humidity sensor 150 may be arranged in a pathway with one side having small holes to let the external air enter and the other side connected to a negative pressure side of the fan.
• a nonreturn component e.g., a check valve or a nonreturn flap, may be arranged within the pathway for preventing the air flow from returning, thus the humidified air at negative pressure side of the fan will not impact the accurate reading of the sensor.
• the water reservoir 1202 includes an air inlet grille 12021 allowing outer air to flow into the water reservoir 1202 and a viewing window 12022 for user to observe the water level in the water reservoir 1202 straightforward.
• a software algorithm may adopted to ensure that the reading is only displayed/used after the fan has been operating for a fixed period of time. This ensures that unhumidified external air is drawn over the sensor and an accurate reading is provided. If the fan has stopped, the humid air inside the product can cause the reading on the humidity sensor to rise.
• the software can also temporarily freeze the display to prevent the incorrect display of humidity.
• the evaporative humidifier 100 further comprises a program control unit (not shown) configured to ensure that sensing the external air humidity is only performed after the fan unit 1101 has been operating for a first period of time and/or the reading of the sensed external air humidity is frozen for a second period of time after the fan unit 1101 stops operating so as not to confuse the user by a sharply increment of the reading caused by the humidified air inside the evaporative humidifier 100.
• a program control unit (not shown) configured to ensure that sensing the external air humidity is only performed after the fan unit 1101 has been operating for a first period of time and/or the reading of the sensed external air humidity is frozen for a second period of time after the fan unit 1101 stops operating so as not to confuse the user by a sharply increment of the reading caused by the humidified air inside the evaporative humidifier 100.
• step 701 the humidity is calculated in step 701 and displayed in step 702.
• Steps 703, 704, 705 and 706 are parts of the program to deal with the rise in humidity that occurs when the fan goes off. More concretely, step 703 performs a function of determining whether the fan is rotated for more than 10 minutes, if so return to the step 701; or else determine whether the humidity is lower than a setting value (step 704), if so return to the step 701, otherwise freeze the display (step 705) and then recalculate the humidity (step 706) and go back step 703.
• the program control unit is further configured to automatically actuate the fan unit 1101 when the sensed external air humidity is lower than a preset humidity. As shown in Fig. 8, the functions of steps 801-810 are listed in a table 1 below, in which a speed 1 of the fan is larger than the speed 2.
• Figs. 5 and 6 are a finished product view of an evaporative humidifier 500 with an annular air outlet 504. Although the annular air outlet 504 shown in Fig. 5 is continuous, it should be understood that the annular air outlet 504 can be formed discretely or segmented.
• the air out of the evaporative humidifier 100 is firstly sucked with the aid of the fan 1 101 1 or convected into the ourter housing 130 of the evaporative humidifier 100. Most part of the air can then flow through the wick 1201 1 and carry humidity (moisture) into the fan housing 1 102. Finally, the humidified air is blown through the annular air outlet 1 104 with the aid of the aerodynamic design of the bottom wall 1 1031 of the top cover unit 1103, thus enhancing the humidity of a single room or an entire house.
• the evaporative humidifier 100 has a straight sided fan housing 1 102. As the fan 1 101 1 spins it tends to concentrate the airflow at the outer edge of the fan housing 1 102 and not in the centre of the fan housing 1 102. At the fan housing edge, the air is flowing very fast in an upwards spiral. The optimum exit for the air is therefore the outer edge of the fan 1 101 1 where the air is moving fastest. Thus in this invention a relatively small annular outlet 1 104 for efficient air removal is created.
• the high exit velocity of spiraling air promotes of mixing of the humid air from the humidifier with the dry air in the room. This improves the even distribution of humidity in the room; - low noise since we do not need to redirect the fast moving air at the edge of the fan to the middle of the fan using a grille (which would create an undesirable pressure drop potentially resulting in noise);
• the wick holder is heavy enough not to float when it experiences the buoyancy force from the float, so it does not need to be clipped into the housing of the lower portion. It just rests in the housing of the lower portion;
• the float is preferably a simple plastic float that clicks into the wick holder.
• the float can be easily removed for cleaning.
• the wick holder limits the movement of the float so that it activates the actuator of the upper portion;
• the wick itself may be soft when wet so the removable wick holder gives the user a structure so that the wick can be easily removed and washed in place. Alternatively the wick can be easily slipped off the housing and cleaned;
• the wick holder also provides a feature to enable an anti-bacterial cartridge to be mounted in the lower container.
• the cartridge can be easily undipped from the wick holder.
• the word “comprising” does not exclude the presence of elements or steps not listed in a claim or in the description.
• the word “a” or “an” preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements.
• several of these units can be embodied by one and the same item of hardware or software.
• the usage of the words first, second and third, et cetera does not indicate any ordering. These words are to be interpreted as names.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Air Humidification (AREA)
• Air Conditioning Control Device (AREA)

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Citations (5)

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• 2013
  • 2013-06-17 RU RU2015102617A patent/RU2639072C2/ru active
  • 2013-06-17 EP EP13750737.2A patent/EP2867589B1/en active Active
  • 2013-06-17 US US14/410,243 patent/US9696050B2/en active Active
  • 2013-06-17 WO PCT/IB2013/054947 patent/WO2014001952A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2013-06-17 BR BR112014032132A patent/BR112014032132A2/pt not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2013-06-17 JP JP2015519403A patent/JP6235007B2/ja active Active

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