WO2017114356A1

WO2017114356A1 - Humidifying device, and purifier, humidifier and fan heater with humidifying device

Info

Publication number: WO2017114356A1
Application number: PCT/CN2016/112093
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chao REN; Zijia LIU
Original assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
Priority date: 2015-12-28
Filing date: 2016-12-26
Publication date: 2017-07-06
Also published as: CN106931577A; TWI647414B; JP6744910B2; PH12018500416A1; TW201727157A; JP2018538500A

Abstract

A humidifying device comprises: a humidifying tank (100) for containing a humidifying agent; a humidifying filter screen (200) in physical contact with the humidifying agent to absorb the humidifying agent in the humidifying tank (100); and a tray (300) disposed within the humidifying tank (100) movably in the vertical direction and supporting the humidifying filter screen (200), wherein a foam material (310) is provided on the lower side of the tray (300), such that the buoyancy generated by the tray (300) and the foam material (310) in the humidifying agent is balanced with the total weight of the humidifying filter screen (200), the tray (300) and the foam material (310), and the humidifying filter screen (200)and the tray (300) are maintained with floating on the liquid level of the humidifying agent. Also an air purifier, a humidifier and a fan heater with such humidifying device are disclosed.

Description

HUMIDIFYING DEVICE, AND PURIFIER, HUMIDIFIER AND FAN HEATER WITH HUMIDIFYING DEVICE

Field

The present application relates to a household appliance, in particular to a humidifying device, and air purifier, humidifier and fan heater with such humidifying device.

Background

The liquid level within a humidifying tank in an air purifier, humidifier and fan heater with humidifying device will change along the process of humidification, therefore, a flow through area of a humidifying filter screen above the liquid level changes along with it, causing unfavorable effect of unstable amount of humidification.

Japan Patent (P2003-284832) discloses a fan heater, the fan heater comprises humidifying device with buoyancy in the humidifying filter screen portion, as illustrated in figure 1. In the humidifying device, the liquid level drops along the humidification progress, and the humidifying filter screen descends along with the liquid level, causing too much air escaping from the top of the humidifying filter screen, which in turn causes a decrease in the amount of air through the humidifying filter screen, thus cannot maintain a stable humidification function.

Summary

The technical problem addressed by the present application is to provide a humidifying device with an unchanged flow through area of the humidifying filter screen above the liquid level and an unchanged amount of wind through the humidifying filter screen, and an air purifier, a humidifier and a fan heater comprising such humidifying device.

To this end, a humidifying device is provided according to one aspect of the present application, the humidifying device comprises: a humidifying tank for containing a humidifying agent； a humidifying filter screen in physical contact with the humidifying agent to absorb the humidifying agent in the humidifying tank； and a tray disposed within the humidifying tank movably in the vertical direction and supporting the humidifying filter screen, wherein a foam material is provided on a lower side of the tray, such that a buoyancy generated by the tray and the foam material in the humidifying agent is balanced with the total weight of the humidifying filter screen, the tray and the foam material, and the humidifying filter screen and the tray are maintained with floating on a liquid level of the humidifying agent.

According to one embodiment of the present application, the foam material may be disposed along a periphery edge of a lower side of the tray.

According to one embodiment of the present application, the tray may have a rectangular shape with two pieces of the foam material disposed in diagonal corners of the lower side of the tray, respectively. Or, four pieces of the foam material may be disposed on four corners of the sides of the tray.

According to one embodiment of the present application, the tray may further comprise a plurality of recesses on its lower side, the recesses are symmetrically disposed about the center of gravity of the humidifying filter screen and the tray.

According to one embodiment of the present application, the humidifying device may further comprise a filter screen frame, wherein an edge of the humidifying filter screen is surrounded by and mechanically connected to the filter screen frame.

According to one embodiment of the present application, the humidifying device may further comprise a windshield mechanism disposed above the filter screen frame. The windshield mechanism may comprise a static windshield panel disposed above the filter screen frame and a dynamic windshield panel disposed on an upper edge of the filter screen frame, the dynamic windshield panel may maintain to overlap to and fit to the static windshield panel as the filter screen frame moves in the vertical direction.

According to one embodiment of the present application, the humidifying device may further comprise a guide mechanism guiding the tray to move in the vertical direction. The guide mechanism may comprise a guide slot disposed on an internal sidewall of the humidifying tank and a guide rail disposed on an outer edge of the tray.

According to one embodiment of the present application, the humidifying agent may comprise water.

According to another aspect of the present application, an air purifier, a humidifier and a fan heater comprising as above described humidifying device are provided.

In the humidifying device and the air purifier, the humidifier and the fan heater with the humidifying device according to the present application, the buoyancy generated by the tray and the foam material in the humidifying agent may be balanced with the total weight of the humidifying filter screen, the tray and the foam material, such that the humidifying filter screen and the tray may maintain with floating on a liquid level of the humidifying agent, thus ensuring that the flow through area of the humidifying filter screen above the liquid level to remain unchanged. As the liquid level of the humidifying agent drops, the humidifying filter screen may also descends, in the case that humidifying device comprises a windshield mechanism disposed above the filter screen frame, no wind escapes without passing through the humidifying filter screen, therefore the amount of wind through the humidifying filter screen may remain unchanged. In the case that the foam material is disposed along the outer edge of the lower side of the tray or on the diagonal corners, the buoyancy generated by the tray in the humidifying agent is ensured to act at the outer edge of the lower side of the tray where the foam material is disposed, and it is ensured that there may be a stable up-and-down movement of the tray in the humidifying agent, and may prevent an inclination of the tray. Further, in the case that the humidifying device comprises a guide mechanism to guide the tray to move in the vertical direction, a stable up-and-down movement of the tray may be further ensured, and an inclination of the tray may be prevented.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following briefly describes the figures used in the embodiments to illustrate the technical solution of the embodiments of the present application more clearly, it is apparent to one with ordinary skill of the art that the figures in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and other figures can be acquired from these figures without inventive work.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a fan heater with humidifying device of prior art.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the water supply device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the water supply device in assembled state according to an embodiment of the present application.

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the tray of the water supply device and the humidifying filter screen component according to an embodiment of the present application.

Figure 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the bottom of the tray of the water supply device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Figure 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the guide mechanism of the water supply device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a water supply device used for a humidifier according to an embodiment of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A clear and complete description of the technical solution in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be made with reference to the figures of the embodiments of the present disclosure in the following, however, the embodiments described are only some of, not all of, the embodiments of the present disclosure. All the other embodiments achieved by one with ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments disclosed herein without inventive work fall into the scope claimed by the present disclosure.

The technical terms or scientific terms used herein should be understood as the common meaning understood by one with ordinary skill of the related art unless defined otherwise. The terms “first” , “second” and the like used in the disclosed patent application description and claims do not indicate any order, quantity or importance, and are only used to distinguish different components. Likewise, terms “a” , “an” and the like do not limit the quantity, and only indicate the presence of at least one. Terms “connect to” or “connect with” and the like do not limit to physical or mechanical connection, and can comprise electrical connection, whether direct or indirect. “Upper” , “lower” , “left” , “right” , etc. are only used to indicate relative location relationship, and when the absolute positions of the described subjects have been changed, then the relative position relationship also changes accordingly.

Embodiments of the present application will now be described with reference to the figures.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the water supply device according to an embodiment of the present application, figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the water supply device in assembled state according to an embodiment of the present application, figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the tray of the water supply device and the humidifying filter screen component according to an embodiment of the present application, and figure 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the bottom of the tray of the water supply device according to an embodiment of the present application.

As illustrated in figures 2-5, according to one embodiment of the present application, a humidifying device 10 comprises a humidifying tank 100, a humidifying filter screen 200 and a tray 300, which will be described as the following, respectively.

The humidifying tank 100 is a vessel for containing a humidifying agent. The humidifying agent may comprise clean water, or may be added with certain air cleaning agents or air fresheners determined according to the environment in which the humidifying device is used. The humidifying tank 100 may be a vessel with upper opening. In one embodiment, the humidifying tank 100 is a parallelepiped having upper opening, but the present application is not limited thereto, and the humidifying tank 100 may employ vessels with any other suitable shapes, such as cylinder or polygonal prisms, etc. The humidifying tank 100 may be made from a metal or plastic material. In this embodiment, the humidifying tank 100 is injection molded by a plastic material.

The humidifying filter screen 200 is typically made from a hydrophilic foam material standing up in the humidifying tank 100, the lower edge 201 of which is in physical contact with a humidifying agent for adsorbing the humidifying agent in the humidifying tank 100. When air flow (referred to as “wind” at times hereinafter) passes from the humidifying filter screen 200, it brings humidifying agent adsorbed from humidifying tank 100 by the humidifying filter screen 200, thus humidifying the air or functioning as cleaning the air.

The tray 300 has a shape corresponding to the cross section of the humidifying tank 100, that is to say when the cross section of the humidifying tank is rectangular, circular or polygonal, the tray 300 also has a corresponding rectangular, circular or polygonal cross section. The tray 300 is disposed within the humidifying tank 100 movably in the vertical direction, that is to say that the size of the cross section of the tray 300 is smaller than the size of the cross section of the humidifying tank 100. The tray 300 can support the humidifying filter screen 200, and make the lower edge 201 of the humidifying filter screen 200 maintain in physical contact with the humidifying agent. The lower side of the tray 300 is provided with foam material 310, such that the buoyancy generated by the tray 300 and the foam material 310 in the humidifying agent is balanced with the total weight of the humidifying filter screen 200, the tray 300 and the foam material 310, and the humidifying filter screen 200 and the tray 300 may maintain with floating on the liquid level of the humidifying agent.

In the case that the cross section of the tray 300 has circular, elliptical or polygonal, the foam material 310 may be disposed along the periphery edge of the lower side of the tray 300, thus ensuring the buoyancy generated by the foam material 310 is adjacent to the periphery edge of the tray 300. As such, it can be ensured that the tray 300 may move stably in the vertical direction without inclination, as the points of action of the buoyancy are all adjacent to the periphery edge of the tray 300. It can be imagined that if the foam material concentrates near the center of gravity of the tray 300, although the tray can float on the liquid level of the humidifying agent along with its change, but the tray will become unstable, i.e., it can cause the inclination of the tray during its up-and-down movement. This basic principle may be also applied in other embodiments of the present application.

In the case that the tray 300 has a rectangular shape, the foam material 310 may be disposed symmetrically about the center of gravity of the tray 300 and the humidifying filter screen 200, for example, two pieces of foam material 310 may be disposed on the diagonal corners of the lower side of the tray 300, respectively； or, four pieces of foam material 310 may be disposed on four corners on the side of the tray 300.

According to one embodiment of the present application, the tray 300 may further comprise a plurality of recess 320 on its lower side, the recesses 320 are also disposed symmetrically about the center of gravity of the humidifying filter screen 200 and the tray 300. The recesses 320 are disposed on the lower side of the tray 300. When the recesses 320 are in contact with the humidifying agent in the humidifying tank 100, a vacuum is generated within the recess 320. The vacuum generated within the recess 320 increases the buoyancy of the tray 300 in the humidifying agent. Therefore, the volumes and number of the recesses 320 need to be determined according to the magnitude of the buoyancy generated by the tray 300 in the humidifying agent.

One skilled in the art can design the volumes and number of the recesses 320 taking account of in the case of configuration of foam material 310, along with the total buoyancy required by the tray 300. This is a problem of balance calculation between weight force supported by the tray 300 and the buoyancy generated by the tray 300, the foam material 310 and the recesses 320 in the humidifying agent as known by one skilled in the art, which will not be repeated herein.

According to one embodiment of the present application, the humidifying device 10 may further comprise a filter screen frame 210, in which an edge of the humidifying filter screen is surrounded by and mechanically connected to the filter screen frame 210. In this embodiment, the humidifying filter screen 200 may have a rectangular shape, and the filter screen frame 210 may have a rectangular shape corresponding to the rectangular shape of the humidifying filter screen 200, so as to facilitate the mechanical connection of the humidifying filter screen 200 with the filter screen frame 210. However, the present application is not limited thereto, and the humidifying filter screen 200 and the filter screen frame 210 may have any suitable corresponding shape, which can be selected freely by one skilled in the art according to actual design conditions.

In the case that both of the humidifying filter screen 200 and the filter screen frame 210 have a rectangular shape, the humidifying device 10 may further comprise windshield mechanism 211 disposed above the filter screen frame 210. This is because, for example, in an example of a humidifier, during the operation of the humidifier, the liquid level of the humidifying agent drops gradually, causing the tray 300 to descend gradually along with the humidifying filter screen 200. Such descent of the upper edge 202 of the humidifying filter screen 200 causes an increasingly wider gap between the upper edge 202 and the humidifier body, and a portion of the wind flow through the gap without passing the humidifying filter screen 200. Therefore, the problem that air flow escapes above the humidifying filter screen 200 during the descent of the humidifying filter screen along with the liquid level of the humidifying agent must be addressed. To this end, according to an embodiment of the present application, a windshield mechanism comprises a static windshield panel 211a disposed above the filter screen frame 210 and a dynamic windshield panel 211b disposed at the upper edge of the filter screen frame 210, in which the dynamic windshield panel may maintain to overlap to and fit to static windshield panel by moving in the vertical direction along with the filter screen frame 210. However, the present application is not limited thereto, and the windshield mechanism above the filter screen frame 210 may be in any other suitable way. According to another embodiment (not shown) of the present application, the effect of windshield without affecting the up-and-down movement of the humidifying filter screen 200 can also be achieved by a flexible windshield cloth disposed between the upper edge of the filter screen frame 210 and the humidifier body.

As illustrated in figures 5 and 6, according to one embodiment of the present application, the humidifying device 10 may further comprise a guide mechanism guiding the tray 300 to move in the vertical direction. The guide mechanism may comprise, for example, a guide slot 110 disposed on an internal sidewall of the humidifying tank 100 and a guide rail 330 disposed on an outer edge of the tray 300. Although not shown, the guide mechanism may also comprise, for example, a guide rail disposed on the internal sidewall of the humidifying tank 100 and a guide slot disposed on the outer edge of the tray 300, which can achieve the same technical effect as above described. In addition, as known by one skilled in the art, the guide mechanism can be disposed symmetrically with respect to the cross sections of the humidifying tank 100 and the tray 300, for example, one pair of symmetrically disposed guide mechanisms, or two pairs of symmetrically disposed guide mechanisms. Moreover, the guide mechanism is not limited to the guide slot and guide rail pattern, and the guide mechanism can comprise any other pattern as known by one skilled in the art, such as the fit of a slider and a groove, etc. to which the designer can select properly according to specific structures.

According to one embodiment of the present application, the foam material 310 is a hydrophobic foam material, which can be any suitable foam material as known by one skilled in the art, as hydrophobicity and light in weight may cause buoyancy in the humidifying agent. However, different foam materials generate different buoyancy in the humidifying agent, and designer can select the type and amount of the foam material according to actual needs.

According to one embodiment of the present application, humidifying filter screen may comprise a hydrophilic foam material, which can be any suitable material known by one skilled in the art, adsorbing the humidifying agent thereon because of its hydrophilicity, thus humidifying the air while the air flow passes therethrough.

According to one embodiment of the present application, an air purifier, a humidifier and a fan heater (not shown) comprising above described humidifying device 10 are provided.

The application of the humidifying device 10 in an air purifier, a humidifier, and a heater will be described below, taking the humidifier as an example.

As illustrated in figure 7, the humidifier comprises humidifying device 10 according to above described embodiments, air flow is blown towards the humidifying device 10 through a fan, humidified after passing the humidifying filter screen in the humidifying device 10, and flow back into the environment atmosphere via an exit at a upper part of the humidifier. As the flow through area of the humidifying filter screen according to an embodiment of the present application remains unchanged, and the air flow all passes through the humidifying filter screen without escaping, the humidifier operates efficiently with constant amount of humidification and wind.

Likewise, the humidifier 10 according to an embodiment of the present application can be used in an air purifier and a fan heater, and can achieve the same advantageous effects as that achieved when used in a humidifier.

In the humidifying device 10 according to the present application and the air purifier, the humidifier and the fan heater with the humidifying device 10, the buoyancy generated by the tray 300 and the foam material 310 in the humidifying agent is balanced with the total weight of the humidifying filter screen 200, the tray 300 and the foam material 310, such that the humidifying filter screen 200 and the tray 300 may be maintained with floating on the liquid level of the humidifying agent, thus ensuring the flow through area of the humidifying filter screen 200 above the liquid level remains unchanged. As the liquid level of the humidifying agent drops, the humidifying filter screen 200 also descends, in the case that the humidifying device 10 comprises a windshield mechanism disposed above the filter screen frame 210, no wind escapes without passing through the humidifying filter screen 200, so the amount of wind through the humidifying filter screen 200 remains unchanged. In the case that the foam material 310 is disposed along the outer edge of the lower side of the tray 300 or disposed on diagonal corners, the buoyancy of the tray 300 in the humidifying agent is ensured to act at the outer edge of the lower side of the tray 300 where the foam material is disposed, which ensures a stable up-and-down movement of the tray 300 in the humidifying agent, and prevents the inclination of the tray 300. Moreover, in the case that the humidifying device 10 comprises a guide mechanism guiding the tray 300 to move in the vertical direction, a stable up-and-down movement of the tray 300 is further ensured, and the inclination of the tray 300 is prevented.

The above implementations are only used to describe the present disclosure, and are not limiting the present disclosure, various variations and modifications can be made by one with ordinary skill in related art without departing the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, therefore, all equivalent technical solutions are within the scope of the present disclosure, and its scope is defined by the claims.

Claims

A humidifying device, comprising:

a humidifying tank for containing a humidifying agent；

a humidifying filter screen in physical contact with the humidifying agent to absorb the humidifying agent within the humidifying tank； and

a tray disposed within the humidifying tank movably in the vertical direction and supporting the humidifying filter screen,

wherein a lower side of the tray is provided with a foam material, such that a buoyancy generated by the tray and the foam material in the humidifying agent is balanced with a total weight of the humidifying filter screen, the tray and the foam material, and the humidifying filter screen and the tray are maintained with floating on a liquid level of the humidifying agent.
The humidifying device of claim 1, wherein the foam material is disposed along a periphery edge of the lower side of the tray.
The humidifying device of claim 1, wherein the tray has a rectangular shape, and two pieces of the foam material are disposed on diagonal corners of the lower side of the tray.
The humidifying device of claim 1, wherein the tray has a rectangular shape, and four pieces of the foam material are disposed on four corners of the sides of the tray.
The humidifying device of claim 1, wherein the tray further comprises a plurality of recesses at its lower side, the recesses are disposed symmetrically about the center of gravity of the humidifying filter screen and the tray.
The humidifying device of claim 1, further comprising a filter screen frame, wherein an edge of the humidifying filter screen is surrounded by and mechanically connected to the filter screen frame.
The humidifying device of claim 6, further comprising a windshield mechanism disposed above the filter screen frame.
The humidifying device of claim 7, wherein the windshield mechanism comprises a static windshield panel disposed over the filter screen frame and a dynamic windshield panel disposed over an upper edge of the filter screen frame, the dynamic windshield panel maintains to overlap to and fit to the static windshield panel as the filter screen frame moves in the vertical direction.
The humidifying device of claim 1, further comprising a guide mechanism moving in the vertical direction to guide the tray.
The humidifying device of claim 9, wherein the guide mechanism comprises a guide slot disposed on an internal sidewall of the humidifying tank and a guide rail disposed on an outer edge of the tray.
The humidifying device of claim 6, further comprising a guide mechanism to guide the filter screen frame to move in the vertical direction.
The humidifying device of claim 11, wherein the guide mechanism comprises a guide slot disposed on an internal sidewall of the humidifying tank and a guide rail disposed on an outer edge of the filter screen frame.
The humidifying device of claim 1, wherein the humidifying agent comprises water.
An air purifier comprising the humidifying device of any one of claims 1-13.
A humidifier comprising the humidifying device of any one of claims 1-13.
A fan heater comprising the humidifying device of any one of claims 1-13.