US1656414A - Humidifying apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 17, 1928.

W. G. R. BRAEMER HUMIDIFYING APPARATUS Al a Filed Dec. 17, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 17, 1928.

- w. G. R. BRAEMER HUMIDIFYING APPARATUS.

Filed D80. 17. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 effect of producing a dry thereinwhereby the desired relative .xPatented Jan.;17, 192s.

WILLIAM (is R. BBAEMER, OF H AJJDONFIELD, nEw J nuumrrrme COMPANY, A CORPORAT sassy, AssIeNo'R T0 UNIVERSAL ION on NEW ansen numImrYmo ArPAnArtrs.

Application m d December The object of my invention is to provide an eificient yet inexpensive means for dlrect humidification'of the air in isolated rooms or where it is needed; 'and-mor 6 my invention is adapted as a portable device which may be shifted from room to room or place to place, as the humidity changes 1n 1 the confined air may necessitate. f Y Where steam or hot water radiators are employed as the means of heating rooms,

- suchfas in oflice buildings, hotels and apartments, the air is 'liabl'e'to become overheated,

and, as a consequence, take. on a condition of low relative humidity, with the resultmg of theeskm of the occupants of the room or apartment. I To overcome t condition, it has been customa of water upon the radiato mwhich is, both t tory. V x

By use of my improvement, a fine mist is quicklyand efi'ectually' formed and rojected into the air so as to be at once 0 sorbed humidry toqset trays rs, a practice roublesome and unsatisfac ity may be speedily obtained. q My invention consists'of a revolvmg disk driven by a smallelectric' motor (adapted to receiveits electric energy from a lamp socket similarly to an electric fan), said disk automatioally forming a thin film of water which is thrown off from its perimeter b centrifugal force, and which, strikingba v arranged about the disk, is me transformed into a fine mist, the water supply being-contained in a reservoir preferab forming an air guiding wall about the disk and having means which automatically causes "the water to be supplied to the revolving disk in such a manner that a definite .quantity jof Water can be insur when revolving at a predetermined s eed and thus provide for a predetermmed vapor volume. Moreover,- the revolting disk is so constructed that it performs the dual function of providing the water film Y and creating a strong radial air current -which'carries the mist or vapor produced out into the room. t w

'My invention also comprises other details of construction which, together with the features above stated, are fully described hereinafter and pointed out in the claims.

Referringtq' thedrawings: Fig. 1 is a verw chanically e especially,

' 5 is a vertical section burning sensation his objectionable 'ng means 4 y mit a. bubble 0 ed to the diskuasse.

17, 1924. Serial No r embodying my zontalsection of 1; Fig. 3 is an tical section of a,humidifie invention; Fig. 2 is a hori the same on line 22 of Fi edgeview of one form of aflfle adapted to mly invention; Fig. 4 shows In invention w en a plurality'of the humidifiers are op- 60 erated from a common source of water; Fig, showing the adaptato supplying humidbeing supplied to a tion of my. humidifiersity to a. current of air vdlstant room or' place;

Referring more particularly to the construction of the portable humidifier-shown in Figs. 1, 2-and 3, the base 2 may be a suit able casting formed with legs or otherwise to support it at a distance above the table 7 or ground upon which itmay rest so as to permit air to freely pass'below the apparatus. This base 2 supports a tank or reservoir 3 which is preferably formed as an annular compartment in which water may be 7 placed. through an inlet-8 which is normally sealed. The bottom of the tank is 'closedby a plate .4 at thecenter of which averticah air aperture 10, is provided having a vertical circular all 9 and forming between said circular we 1 and the annular tank 3 an annu-- lar water holding working tank 4, the same being in communication with the interior of the annular tank 3 by an orifice 5. Under ordinary conditions, the water in the supply tank/. will remain at a definite level governed by-the position of the up er air con trolling edge of the orifice 5. y f the water in the tank 4 becomes lowered, it will perf air to pass within the reseri-voir tank 3 and thus causing the displacement of a corresponding vportion of water from said reservoirtank'3'ii1to the working tank 4: to maintain'its predetermined level. The working level in this tank 4" may be adjusted by .ayertical adjustment of the gate valve 6 which controls the upper level of the orifice 5. This gate valve'6 may be adjusted in any" suitable manner and the adjusting screw 7 is p1- Eimple. The feeding o annular reserv is accom ,modify the vacuum therein from time to time to permit the flow under the action of ovided by way of exgravity while restricting it by the extent of vaccuum within the annular reservoir above the water therein. As the level of the water in the working tank 4 descends sufficiently to allow a. bubble of air to pass the opening 5 and rise into 'the reservoir, the entrance of such bubble will permit an equivalent quantity of water to flow from the reservoir through the water passage and thus maintain automatically the desired level of the water inthe' working reservoir. I do not between the said parts 9 and 19. The inner and lower portion of the cone disk 18 is normally in the water contained in the working tank 4, as clearly shown. This cone shaped disk is integrally formed with an upper disk 21 of smaller diameterjandf connected withit by means of radial blades 22 forming between them-air passages 23, said air passages being in communication at their inner ends with the tubular passage so that the air currents may pass upwardly through the'working tank 4 as indicated by the arrows, when thecone disk'andits connected partsare revolved. Secured to the disk 21 is a hub portion 25 which is secured to the motor "shaft 24 and by which it'is- .revolved at a high speed. The motor 13 is shown as an electric motorv and is secured; to a transverse supporting frame l i-havlng a plurality of downwardly extending leg portions 17 which rest upon the bottom 4 of the working tank 4, the weight being suswhich surrounds the motor 13 and protects it from moisture and also acts as a: central filling piece to the inner space 11 formed by the annular reservoir tank 3. The upper part of this casing 12 may flare outwardly so; as to cause the moist air to spread on being delivered from the upper part of the humidifier. An electric circuit is provided by the flexible conductor ehord 16 which may lead to a lamp socket 1n the ordinary manner adopted with electric fans, so that the humidifier may be set anywhere in. the room which is found convenient and coupled to the electric lighting circuit for insuring the operation of the motor. 15 is a cover I plate overthe casing 12 for permitting access to the motor when desired. It; is manifest that this arrangement of parts provides an annular air'passa'ge into which the moist air currents are received at the lower part and caused to flow outwardly at the top so as to 1 be in any form to'obtain an artistic design and it is evident that these may be shaped to form an a-rtisticurn, vase or other object.

When the cone sh aped disk 18 is driven at a high-speed, it draws air upwardly through the central tubular passage 10 and forces it'radially outward through the passages 23 simultaneously with the production of a film of water on its underconical surface, which film of water is thrownoif from the extreme perimeter of the disk and caused to impact upon the annular row of baflie means 26, so that said film of waterqis broken up into. a fine mist and is'at once carried forward by the air currents and thus absorbed by said air currents and supplied to the air of the room, in which it is further dissipated and absorbed. The annular row of baflie means 26 may be formed in any suitable manner and I do not restrict myself in this respect. The particular .construction shown consists of a ribbon of sheet metal, bent backward and forward upon itself," as

indicated in Fig. 3, and this, when bent into groove in the bottom of an annular supportmg frame 27 which is arranged slightly above the water in the'tank 4 and .is secured "shaped disk 18 is formed by the centrifugal tained'by thebase frame 2. 12 is a casing action ofthe disk upon the water, and the quantity? of water'lifted and thrown outward is proportional to the speed of rota tion of the disk as Well as to the level of! the water in the working tank 4. Assum mg that the speed is kept constant, as in the case of an electric fan, the vapor production may be increased by raising the valve gate '6 or decreased bylowering it, and thereby raising or lowering the level of the water in contact with the disk. As shown in Fig. 1,

.the gate is adjusted fora maximum water film .with the motor revolving at a given speed and this film may be decreased by the lowering of the gate 6. This provides means in the portable humidifier to insure/a desired quantity of moisture being delivered into It will. be understood .a circular form,-is supported in an annular be made. In these figures, the humidifiers That is to say,

supplyin have shown the valve 33 of the'humidifier matically performed by means which controls the flow of water'to the operating tank 4 or whichcontrols the speed of the motor, and hence of the disk 18, as is indicated in Figs. '4 and 5, to which reference will now shown at A,B.and C areof the same general construction as shown in .Figs. 1 and 2. they have the-revolving cone shaped disks and bafile means asrwell as the working tank with the central aperture .for the air-to pass to the revolvingdisk, said air passing through the bottom of the humidifier throughthe central passagetliereof as indicated by the arrows.

In Fi 4, I have indicated means for a plurality of the humidifiers with wate fronracomm'on source and have shown the watensupply t'o one of the humidifiers as'controlledby a humidistat ararranged in the room or compartmentv in which theihumidifier is located. In this coilstruction, 3 is a rese'rvoirin which water is maintained at a constant level by a float valve 28 and an o'verflow pipe 29-.. The water fromthis reservoir tank is supplied by pipes 30 and 31 to the respective humidifiers Av and B whic inthis case, would'simpl be provided with the working tank 4 'w ich should be positioned to insure auniform level of water therein, so that any lowering of the water level in either of the humidifiers will automatically insure a further Water supply thereto. '32 and 33- are controlvalves by which therespective humidifiers may be shut off from operation, when desired. I

B as being an automatic valve of the usual type which may be closed by spring action and opened by apressure diaphra Iir. The pneumatic pressure which is emp oyed for closing the valve is suppliedvby the air ump 34 through an air main 35' to abranch line 36 leading to the .valve and operating "through the cheke device 37 the same being provided with a bleed pipe 38 controlled by the humidi'stat 39 and operating iii such manner that Whenever the humidit in the mo becomes excessive, the valve leed 38 is s ut ofl so that the air pressure builds up in the branch pipe '36Jand causes the diaphragm valve 33 to be shut ofi andin that manner reduce the watersupply to the reand, therefore, no claim is made to the-devolving cone disk and thereby reduce the amount of moisture which passes into the atmosphere. Humidistats or hygrostats with the connecting means for automatically operating the control valves are well known tails of such apparatus. -Any suitablermeans for accomplishing this purpose may be employed, as desired. I

Referring to Fig. 5, 40 represents a con- (luit throughwhich air is caused to flow from any suitable source, either by a. pres- I therefore, the! spraying through the conduit may be trolled to suit predetermined requirements.

siire blower 4l dr by an exhauster, both of a which are common expedients in practice of .air conditioning apparatus as employed in buildings. The air passing through the conduit 40 may be supplied-with moisture by 70.

the humidifier indicated at C, theconstrucsimilar to. that previously I e exception that, in this sure blower, then there should be. an inclined baflle'plate or board 43 extending partly over the open upper portion of the humidifier C to'prevent the air from blowing down into .the humidifier. If the air circulating in the conduit/40 is induced by an exhauster in in the conduit. The circulation in this case air from 'the humidifier into the conduit. In this particular case, I have shownmeans for regulating the speed of the motor and,- disk under the control of a humidistat substantially as in the case of Fig. 4, except that in' this instance, the diaphragm motor 44 operatesa circuitv controllerefi for changing the speedof the elec-' tric motor. The humidistatis shown at 39 and the pipes 35, 36 and 38 and choke device 37 for operatin the diaphragm motor I place of the pressure 'blower; then the baflie 43 may be omitted, as in that v 1 case therev would be no interfering pressure would assist the passage o f-the humidified" correspond also to tios'e shown in Fig. 4.

In this case, however, midistat in the conduit, but it is manifest that "it may be in the room or place Where the humidifierair is ultimately received. In

I have shown the hu- 0 case of too much humidity, the humidistat may close the vent pipe 38 and build up ,a

' pressure on the diaphragm motor to increase the resistance inthe motor circuit for slow:

ing down the motorfan'd'thereby reducing the amount of aqueous vapor produced by the humidifier is reduc d to too great an extent the humidistat relie es the airpressure and the speed of the motor is increased, thereby producing more moisture-in the air. the humidity condition of the air passing reasonably con- If the amount of moisture .115-

In this manner N oclaim is ma de in the present application for the plurality ofhumidifiers operating from the commonsource of water supautomatic controlling ply with or without means for controlling the supply ofwater the conduit to mix with the circulating air therein, more particularly, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, as the same will form subject matter of a separate application.

It will now be apparent that-I havedevised a novel and useful construction which embodies the features ofsadvantage enumerated as desirable, and while I have in the present instance shown and described the preferred embodiment thereof which has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results. it is to be understood that I do not restrict myself to the details, as the same are suspectible of modification in various particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to'secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A humidifier comprisiiig an annular casing forming a water reservoir and'having in the lower part of the space within the annular reservoir an open annular WOIkiDg tank having a vertical central air passage through it and in communication with the water space of the annular reservoir by a normally open water and air passage means whose uppermost edge determines the water I i level in the working tank, combined with a -wherein f urther, the motor rotatable annular disk of general conical shape-whose central portion is submerged in the water of the working tank and whose upper portion extends above the level of the water in said tank'and is provided witha plurality of radial passages for sucking a current of air through the central air passage in the annular working tank and proand provides with the wall an annular air passage for the air blown by the rotating disk structure for guiding it upwardly into the atmosphere.

; 3. The invention according to claim 1,

, wherein further, the motor is surrounded detac with a protecting casing which fits down into the space within the annular reservoir but arranged at a higher level than the baffling means and passage for the air from the rotating disk structure whereby it is guided upward y into the atmosphere, the motor and protecting casin rovided with supportin means for a ivly positioning them wit n the central space of the annular reservoir and whereby said parts together with the disk structure may be removable as a unit.

4. The invention according to claim 1, wherein further, means. are provided for raising or lowering the upper edge of the water and air passa e between the annular reservoir and annu ar working tank for governing the water level in the working tank.

5. The inyention according to claim 1, wherein further, the amiular working tank is formed with a central Vertical opening bounded by a circular upwardly extending flange, and the annular disk has its general surface directed obliquely u ward so that the water film flows by centri gal action in a continuous upward direction.

6. A humidifier, comprising an annular casing fermin a normally closed water reservoir andniaving in the lower part of the space within the annular reservoir an open angiular working tank having a vertical central air passage through it and supplied with water from the annular water reservoir means communicating between the bottom oi the water reservoir and the working tank for permitting the flow of water from the reservoir to the tank, and means controlled by the level of the water in the working tank for controlling the passage of air from above the level of the water in the tank into the airspace above the water in the reservoir for controlling the flow of water from the reservoir to the working tank, combined with a rotatable disk of general conical sha e whose central portion is tubular and en merged in the water of the working tank' and encircling the vertical central air passage therein and whose upper portion extends above. the level of the water in said thrown into contact therewith by the revolv-,

ing disk for vaporizing the same. v

7. The invention according to claim 6, wherein further, means are provided for adjusting the mean s for controllin the level of the water in the working tan for controlling the'passage of air from above the level of the water in the tank into the air space abovethe water in the reservoir, and thereby regulating the level of the water in rovidingan annular air fthe working tank. I

. 8. A humidifier comprising an annular working tank for water providing a vertical central air passage through its bottom,

combined with a rotatable annular disk structure whose central portion surrounds.

disk, means for supplyinglt the central air assage through the bottom of the tank and in Contact with the water therein and whose under surface is more or less conical and with its upper portion of largest diameter directed outward and upward, said disk being provided on its upper central portion with radial blades and air passages directed toward the perimeter of the disk, an electric motor to rotate the disk, and a circular row of bafiles for vaporizing the water arranged around the perimeter of the disk. A 9. A. humidifier comprisin an annular working tank for water providing a Vertical central air passage through its bottom, combined with a rotatable annular disk structure whose central portion surrounds the" central air passage through the bottom of the tank and in contact with the water therein and whose under surface is more-or less conical and with its'upper portion of largest diameter directed outward and up ward, said disk being provided on its upper central portion with radial blades and air passages directed toward the perimeter of the disk, an electric motor to rotate the disk,

a circular row of baflles for vaporizing the a water arranged around the perimeltler of th]:

e wor mg tan with water, and adjusta e devices for adjusting the level of the water to be normally maintained in the tank to vary the extent to which the disk is submerged.

10. A humidifier comprising a water tank, combined with a rotatable disk having a vertical axis and an opening adjacent thereto and through which air may pass upwardly and a centrally depending annular portion about the axis of rotation for causing water to be supplied from the tank to the disk and over which it flows as a film,

said disk also having'a plurality of air p'as- 1 sages arranged in a more or'less radial d1- the disk and bafiie means and discharging the vapor into the room.

In testimony of which invention, I hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM G. R. BRAEMER.

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