Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Description
HUMIDIFIER
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Field oE the Invention
The present invention is directed to a room
humidifier and more specifically to a room humidifier of
the type adapted to be detachably supported from a standard
` wall register.
Prior Art
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The broad idea of detachably supporting humidiiers
from a hot air wall register is old and well known in the
art. The simplest of these involve a simple open container
of water which is detachably secured to the wall register
by any suitable means so that the passage of hot air over
the surface of the water will pick up some of the evapor-
ated moisture~ Other prior art devices went a step further.
., and supported a fabric by some suitable means in the hot
., ` air path parallel to the face of the register with the
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lower end of the fa~ric disposed in the container of water.Such an arrangement however was generally unattractive and
substantially impaired the flow of hot air from the regis-
ter, thereby decreasing the overall efficiency of the
heating system. Still other prior art devices utilize
free standing artificial plants having wick-type means
associated therewith which were placed in th~ container of
water so that the humidifier resembled an arti~icial
planter. However the efficiency of such artificial
flowers for assisting the'transfer of moisture left muc~
to be desired in the way of efficiency~
As opposed to the reIativeIy open water CQntainer
type humidifiers, other prior art devices provided a
substantially closed con~ainer which`was adapted to fit
over and completely cover the'wall register. ~lthough the
rear surface of such containers was substantially open,
the front surface consisted substantially of a plurality
of closely spaced apart louvers which seriously impeded
the flow of air through'thè humidifier. ~ plurality o~
sponge-like blocks were'providecl within the`interior of
the container to provide a capillary action for drawing
water through a trough'in the bottom o~ the CQntainer~
, However the use of such sponge'bloc~s further impeded
the flow of air thereby greatly reducing the overall
- 25 efficiency of the heàting system.
Summary of'the'`Inv'enti'on
The'present invention provides a room humidi,fiex o~
,~ , the type adapted to ~e mounted on ~ wall-typ~ hot aix
ragister having far superior air flow characteristics and
a more efLiciency absor~ent plate'arrangement which Will
provide the least air resistance while providi`ng the`
~ maximum surface area for evaporation~
,' The present invent~on provides a room humidifier
which can be detacha~ly supported from a ~all-type hQt air`
register having a highly visi~le flaat-type refill indica-
tor so that the'condition of thè water supply can be
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readily observed from a distance.
The present invention provides a room humidifier of the
type adapted to be detachably mounted on a wall register
comprising a substantially rectilinear container defining
a water reservoir in the base thereof and having substan-
tially rectilinear aligned apertures in the front and rear
major surfaces above the reservoir. The apertures are
substantially coextensive with the dimensions of a conven-
tional wall register to facilitate the flow of the entire
hot air supply through the humidifier. The container may
be constructed of one piece molded plastic material having
integral parallel grooves on the interior surfaces of the
top, bottom and front walls for guiding and supporting a
plurality of absorbent plates in parallel spaced apart
relation to each other perpeildicular to said apertures. A
10at is provided having a vertically disposed extension
which can be visible through the front aperture or extend
through the top wall of the container for indicatinq the
water level in the reservoir. A hook is provided on the
rear wall below the aperture therein for engagement with
the lower edge of the wall register and a quick release
latch is provided at the rear edge of the top wall for
engagement with the louvers of a wall register to hold the
room humidifier place.
` 25 The foregoing and other objects,features and advantaqes
of the invention will be apparent from the following more
particular description of a preferred embodiment of the
invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the room humidifier
according to the-present invention in spaced unattached
relation to a conventional wall register~
Fiqure 2 is a front elevation view of the room humidifier
partially broken away, with the humidifier secured to a
conventional reqister.
Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3
in Figure 2.
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Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view of the room
humidifier per se showing the water level indicator and
the manner in which the absorbent plates can be inserted
and removed.
Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5
in Figure 2, and
Figure 6 is a partial vertical sectional view through
a corner oE the humidifier showing a modified water level
indicator.
Detailed Description of the Invention
The room humidifier 10 according to the present inven-
tion is comprised of a substantially rectilinear container
having side walls 12 and 14~a front wall 16, top wall 18,
bottom wall 19 and a rear wall 20. The top wall 18 may
slant downwardly as best shown in Figures 3 and 4 and
the edges may be rounded to provide a smooth streamlined
appearance. The front and rear walls 16 and 20 which
constitute the major surfaces of the rectilinear container
are provided with substantially rectilinear apert~lres 22
and 24 respectively which are allgned with each other
~lthough the areas of these apert:ures are substantially
coe~tensiv~,the rear aperture 24 is larger and is designed
to be substantially coextensive with the louver area of
a conventional wall register 26. Although most conventional
wall registers,such as register 26 ~hown in Figure lj have
louvers 28 of some sort,the apertures 22 and 24 in the
room humidifier according to the present invention are
` . completely unobstructed. Thus the provision of completely
open apertures in the front and rear major surfaces of
the container which have an area commensurate with the
louvers of a wall register greatly facilitates the efficient
flow of hot air through the room humidifier.
The entire room humidifier 10 may be molded as one
piece from any suitable material such as polyvinyl chloride
(PVC) or the like. The inner surface of the top wall 1~
is provided with a plurality of integral dependin~ rid~es
30 which define a plurality of parallel spaced apart
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grooves 32. A plurality of similar integral ridges 34
are formed on the interior of the front and bottom walls
16 and 19 in alignment with the ridges 30 to define a
plurality of parallel spaced apart grooves 36 which are
in vertical alignment with the grooves 32. These grooves
32 and 36 are adapted to receive and support a plurality
of evaporation plates 38 in vertical parallel spaced
apart relation to each other. The lower ends 40 of the
plates 38 have a reduced width to facilitate the entry
and removal of the plates into and out of the container
through the rear aperture24 as best illustrated in Figure
4. The lower end 40 is adapted to be disposed in the
lower portion of the humidifier 10 which acts as a reser-
voir for holding a supply of water 42. The grooves 36
which extend upwardly on the interior of the front wall
. 36 act as guides for the lowermost. ends of the plates
38 upon insertion of the plates. Thus by merely starting
the plate in the upper end 44 of the grooves 3~ which
are readily visible through the rear aperture 24,the
plates will be automatically guided downwardly into the
grooves on the interior surface of the botton wall 19.
The opposite ends 46 of the grooves 36 may be closed with
curved suraces which will provide suitable abutments
about which the lower ends of the plates 38 may pivot
during insertion and removal.
The plates 38 may be constructed of any suitable
material which will provide the requisite capillary
. action to wet the entire plate even though only the lower
end thereof is disposed in a supply of water. The dimen-
~ 30 sions and configuration of each plate may vary but it is
: always desireable to obtain as much surface area on
. each plate above the water level while still allowing
the entry and removal of the plates through the rear
` aperture. The number of plates may also vary with the
- 35 primary consideration being the provision of as much
evaporative surface area as possible without unduly
restricting the flow of air through the humidifier.
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An integrally molded hook-like projection 50 is
provided on the rear wall 20 adjacent the center lower
edge of the aperture 24. The projection 50 is adapted
to extend between the louvers 28 of the hot air register
26 and engage over the lower edge of the opening in the
register to support the room humidifier inDperatiVe
position in front of the hot air register. The lowermost
edge portion of the rear wall 20 is also bowed outwardly
at 52 to engage the wall below the hot air register 26
and maintain the humidifier in a substantially vertical
parallel alignment with the wall. In order to more
positively secure the humidifier in place,a quick release
latch 54 is mounted adjacent the center rear edge of the
top wall 18. The latch is comprised of a rotatable
shank S6 having a bent handle portion 5~ at one end and
a locking cross bar 60 at the opposite end. The shank
56 is rotatably mounted in a boss 62 which is integrally
molded on the top wall 18 and a spring 64 surrounds the
shank 56 between the boss 62 and the operating portion
58 to normally bias the cross bar 60 toward the boss 62.
The cross bar 60 is narrow enough to it between the
adjacent louvers 28 on the wall register when the cross
bar 60 is vertically disposed. The cross bar can then
be turned 90 to extend behind adjacent louvers 28 and
hold the upper portion of the pumi~ifier against the
register. The projection 50 and latch 54 would be equally
efective with a re~ister having horizontally disposed
louvers.
The lower reservoir portion of the humidifier 10 can
be filled by any suitable means such as a flower watering
can having a spout narrow enough to be inserted between
the evaporation plates 38. However the humidifier could
readily be filled rom an ordinary drinking glass and the
lower edge of -the opening 22 is bent outwardly to form
a lip 66 to facilitate pouring water from a broad mouth
container. In order to determine the water level within
the humidifier without peering into the humidifier or
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sticking an object into the humidifier through the front
aperture 22, an operation which could be exceedingly
difficult when the hot air register is located five or
six feet above the floor level, a float type ga~e is
provided. In the embodiment of Figures 1-5 the float 70
is provided with a vertically disposed extension 72
which is guided for vertical movement in an apertured boss
74 extending inwardly from the side wall 14 adjacent the
aperture 22 in the front wall 16 so that the extension
72 wlll be easily visible through the aperture~ The
vertical extension 72 can be provided with any desirable
markings which will facilitate a rapid determination as
to the amount of water in the reservoir. A modified
form of float is shown in Figure 6 wherein the float 80
is provided with an extra length vertical extension 82
which is yuided for verti~al movement in an integrally
molded apertured boss S4 extending inwardly from the
side wall 14 adjacent the aperture 2~ in the rear wall 20.
The vertical extension 82 extends upwardly through an
aperture 86 in the top wall 18 so that the extent to
which the vertical extension 82 extends above the top
wall 18 will provide an indication as to how much water
is present in the reservoir. Suitable markings can also
be provided on the vertical extension 82 to aid in this
~ 25 determination.
; While the invention has been particularly shown and
described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof,
, it will be understood by those in the art that the
forgoing and other changes in form and details may be
made therein without departing ~rom the spirit and scope
of the invention
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