Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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FURNACE REGISTE~ ~IU~ID[FIER
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BACKGROUND OF TH~ INVENTION
The present invention relates to a furnace register
humidifier of a type adapted to be inserted into a floor
opening.
The majority of residential buildings having forced air
heatLng employ Eloor registers supported by the floor area
around the opening for the registers. Elumidifiers for such a
system either have to be installed in the furnace duct,
complete with a water line and an electronic control system to
10 control both the rate of water evaporation and the amount of
water in the system or, alternatively, a separate
self-contained humidifer operating Erom a single location must
be used. The latter units are generalLy noisy, take up space
and -lnclude a relatively unrelLable assembly oE moving parts.
U.S. Patent number 2,161,001, Lssued to Bedol on June 6,
1939 discloses an alternative to a separate motor driven
humidLELer. The Bedol devLce includes a shield adapted to be
fitted over a E]oor register and shaped to deElect the
upwardLy rising alr through an approximate 90` angle past a
liquid receptacle within the shield. Although vapour Erom the
liquid enters the aLr strealn, since only the surEace oE the
liquid contacts the air, the rate at which vapour enters the
air stream is relatively low. ~oreover, the obtrusiveness of
the shield into a room presents a serious disadvantage.
An alternative humidiEier for use in combination with the
register of a hot air furnace is disclosed by U.S. Patent
number 3,227,064, issued on January 6, 1966 to Spangle.
Spangle discloses a grille unit for use with a register
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in a vertical walL, having a liquid trough along its base and
a plurality of spaced apart water-absorbing strips, the
bottoms of which are immersed in the wacer oE the trough. Air
~lowing by the water saturated strips becomes humidiEied
before exiting therefrom into a room. However, only the air
which actually contacts one of the strips in passing through
the grille is effective in vapourizing the water. Moreover,
the construction of the Spangle grille does not extend itself
readily to a grille unit for use with a floor register.
U.S. Patent number 3,673,770, issued July 4, 1972 to
Novak discloses a humidifier attachment for a vertical wall
register consisting of a water filled box with hooks to hang
the box immediately below the register and artificial plants
having a wick-like rear surface immersed in the box to put
moisture into the air.
U.S. Patent number ~,226,17~, issued October 7, 1980 to
Vesper, discloses another type oE vertical wall reglster
humldLEier similar to the Spangle humLdLEier.
U.S. Patent number ~,307,656, Lssued December 29, 198L to
Vesper, dlscloses a humLcllELer Eor use Ln combinatLon with a
Eloor register whLch utLL-Lzes a deElector Eor deElecting
upwardly rising aLr through a plurality oE vertically spaced
apart evaporation plates. The Vesper devlce aEoresaid ls
adapted to be located atop the floor register and therefore
represents an unsightly, obtruslve mechanism.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention there is provided a furnace
register humidifier which includes a substantially rectilinear
body having a pair oE opposed side walls, a pair of end walls
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and a peripheral lip extending around an open end of the body
for supporting it Erom a perimeter of a Eloor furnace duct
opening. A water trough is formed ln an interior of the body
which extends along a length thereof such that an air flow
5channel is formed between the trough and the first one oE the
side walls. The trough is adapted to receive a portion of a
water wick the remainder of which extends across the air flow
channel. Means are provided for supporting the extended
portion of the water wick.
10The supporting means may be a second water trough
extending along the length of an lnterior oE the body
proximate the Eirst side wall.
Advantageously the humidiEier may include an elongated
rib extending over the air flow channel along a length thereoE
15and positioned so as to support the water wick intermediate
the troughs above open ends thereof.
Alternatively a single trough may be positioned between
the side wall such that a pair of aLr Elow channels are
defLned between the trough ancl each oE the sLde walls. The
20trough may be adapted to recèive a water wLck the sides oE
which extend over an open end oE the ~rough across the
respective air Elow channels. Means Eor aEEixing the wick
encls proxlmate the sLde walLs may be provided as may means Eor
holding a centrllL portlon oE the wick proximate a bottom of
25the trough.
Advantageously, the water wick may have a porosity
sufficiently high to permit air flow therethrough, but at the
same time low enough to permit sufficient water flow along the
wick without dripping. The size oE the holes in the water
30wick may be sufficiently small and of a suEficiently high
density to Eilter the air passing therethrough.
Preferably, the ends of the wick may be attached
proximate a bottom end of respective ones oE the side walls
such that upon air passing therethrough, the wick has a
sufficient length between the trough open end and the attached
wick end to bellow out. The side walls may extend beyond the
end walls so as to provide associated side wall attachment
ends. A pair of elastomeric fasteners may be provide to
attach each of the wick ends when folded around the respective
side wall attachment ends to the latter. The holding means
may be a rod extending substantially the length of the trough
Eor placement atop the wick to hold the latter down. The rod
may removably engage the end walls.
A griLle may be provided having adjustable openings whlch
are removably engagable with an open end of the rectilinear
body. Pre~erably the wick is made of a fabric material.
~nlike prior known devices, the present invention
provides a device which is completely unobtrusive, being
located below the floor level and which is extremely slmple to
maintain in operatlon. ALl that ls requlred oi the user ls
simply to refi:Ll the trough Erom tLme to tlme wLth water. The
present lnventLon has no movLng parts and, accordingly, is
slgniElcantly more relLabLe than pr-Lor known devices havlng
motors and the llke.
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~RIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DR~WINGS
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In drawings of a preEerred embodiment oE the invention,
Figure 1 i~5 a perspective view of that portion of the
furnace register humidifier that fits into a floor receptacle
with a portion cut away;
Figure 2 is a plan view of a grille which is adapted to
fit onto the portion of Figure l;
Figure 3 is an end elevation view in section along line
3-3 of Figure l;
Figure 4 is a perspective view of an alternative
embodiment of the invention; and,
Figure 5 is an end elevat:Lon view in section 5 along line
5-5 of Figure 4.
DETAILRD DE~CRIPTION WITH REFERENCE TO TUE DRAWINGS
A preferred embodiment of the Eurnace register humidifier
as shown in Figures 1 and 3 consists of a rectilinear body 10
having a pair of slde walls 12, a pair oE end walls 14, and a
peripheral l:Lp :Ll extending around an open end o~ the side
walls 12 and end walls :14. The dimens:Lons of the body 10 are
such that the si.de wal.ls 12 and end wa:Lls 14 pass through a
heating duct outlet opening (not shown) :Ln a :ELoor oE a
building having a forced air Eurnace w.Ltll the perimeter oE the
floor duct open:Lng engag:Lng lip 11 wh:Lch thereby supports
rectilinear body 10.
A trough 13 extends along the length of the interior of
the body l0 having trough side walls 16 and 18 joined to the
interior of end walls 14. Trough 13 is closed at both ends so
that it can retain a fluid such as water. End walls 14 e~tend
down from lip 11 a slightly shorter distance than side walls
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12, thereby forming sLde wall attachment ends L5. The space
between trough side walls 16 and 18 and body side walls 12
deEine a pair of air Elow channels Eor permitting the passage
of air therethrough.
A water wick 20 consisting of an eLongated flexible water
conducting material is inserted into the trough 13 such that
the central portion thereof is held in place at the bottom of
the trough 13 by means of a clip 22. An alternative method of
so holding the cloth is to use a weighted rod ~not shown).
Water wick 20 is then draped over the upper edges of trough
side walls 16 and 18 and then looped around the bottom of side
walls 12 and retained in place by means of an elastic member
2~ engaging the cloth aga~nst respective side wall attachment
ends 15. The length of the water wick 20 is such that
sufficient slack exists to permLt the water wick 20 to bellow
up in response to upwardly rising air as shown in Figure 3.
As shown in Figure 2, grille 26 has a rectangular sleeve
proximate an outer edge thereof dimensLoned so as to snugly
slidably engage an open end oE body 10 and thereby hold grille
26 in place. Grille 26 also has a plurallty oE spaced apart
rectiLinear apertures 28 reguLarly spaced along the length
thereof. SlidabLy mounted to the underside oE grLlle 26 Ls a
second plate 30 also having a plurallty oE regularly spaced
apart rectLlinear apertures of substantially the same size and
spacing as apertures 28. A knob 3~ afEixed to the slidable
plate 30 allows manual sliding adJustment of the grille 26 by
adjusting the amount of overlap oE apertures 28 with apertures
32.
Water wick 20 is designed with a pluralLty oE uniformly
spaced small apertures over the surface thereof, thereby
providing the latter with sufficient porosity to permit aLr to
pass therethrough. At the same time the apertures are not so
large and numerous so as to prevent conduction of suEEicient
water so as to adequately humldify a room. Adjustment of the
size and spacing of the wick holes is also selected to prevent
excessive water conduction which would -result in dripping from
the bottom oE the wick where it is attached to the side wall
attachment ends 15. The size and spacing of the wick
apertures obviously will depend on the frequency with which
the forced air Eurnace turns on and the amount of air flowing
out each floor opening. By choosing a high density of small
holes the water wick also functions to filter the air passing
therethrough. The trough may require filling anywhere from
approximately three to eight hours depending upon the room
humidLty required. ~illLng may be accomplished by simply
opening grille 26 and filling the trough 13 with a water can,
preferably having a narrow spout at the end thereoE.
It will be appreciated that instead of providing a sLngle
rectilinear sheet oE wick 20, one may instead provide a
plurality oE spaced apart strips or a sLngle wick wherein a
plurality oE sectLons thereoE are cut out so as to permLt the
passage therethrough of air. Ilowever7 the EiLtering eEEect of
the wick in such a case is reduced. In this case it would not
be necessary to provlde a water w:Lck having a relatively high
porosity to permit air flow therethrough.
It is also clear to those skilLed in the art that other
means of attaching the ends of water wick 20 so that there is
a reasonable expanse oE wick material over the air flow
channels can be achieved. For example, members can be
attached to the bottom of trough 13 which extend out either
side across the air flow channels to which the wick 20 can be
attached.
It has been found that by providing some slack in the
water wick 20 so as to permit it to bellow upwardly upon being
impacted by upwardly rising hot air, a much more efficient
evaporation process occurs. This may be in part due to the
greater amount oE cloth apertures through which the hot air
may pass as well as the greater conductivity properties of the
water wick 20 when in a relaxed rather than a tensioned
condition.
It will also be obvious that the device will be operable
even if the ends of water wlck 20 are attached proximate the
top end of side walls 12 rather than at the bot~om end.
However, because of the smaller amount of cloth then in the
air stream, it is e~pected that a Lower rate of evaporation
would result.
An alternative embodiment oE the furnace register
humidifier is shown in Figures 4 and 5 as consist:Lng of side
walls 46 and end walls 50 in a rectilinear shape and having a
perLpheraL lip 54 ~Eor supporting the structure Erom a standard
furnace duct opening. A pair oE trou~hs 48 are Eormed by
interior walls 42 the bottoms 4~ of whLch are curved to ~oin
the exterior side walls 46. Side walls 42 extend along the
length of the humidifLer 40 and are integral with end walls
50. An air Elow channel 62 is formed between the side walls
42. An elongated rib 64 extends across the air flow channel
and is positioned so as to support a water wick 56 slightly
above upper ends of interior walls 42. A pair oE U-shaped
rods 60 are dimensioned to fit within troughs ~8 and are used
to hold down ends of water wick 56 and thereby prevent them
from floating to the surface. Each trough ~8 is sealed so as
to be able to contain water 70.
In operation, water travels along the water wick 56 Erom
each trough 48 thereby keeping the latter in a moist
condition. Furnace air flowing up through air flow channel 62
passes through water wick 56 and causes evaporation of the
water therein. Because the portion of the water wick 56 which
extends over the air flow channel 62 does not have any portion
which droops below the upper ends of side walls 42 there is no
tendency for any dripping to take place. Consequently, it is
unimportant as to the inherent porosity of the water wick or
any of its other properties in order for it to function
adequately. Any excess water conducted out of one water
trough must simply flow into an opposite water trough so that
the two water troughs compensate the water flow lrom each
other. Over a period of time, the filtering effect of the
wick reduces due to a build-up oE fine partLcles captured from
the air and this portion oE the wick becomes hardened and
ceases to conduct water.
The IJ~shaped rods 60 may be dispensed with by employing a
rlgid water wlck 56. Such a water wick may be formed, Eor
example, by utlllzing a wire mesh to support a flexlble wick
or, alternatively, by forming a pluraLity of spaced apart
rigid ribs ln a flexible material. In either of the latter
cases the elongated ribs 64 may be dispensed with because of
the self-supportlng characteristics of a rlgid water wick.
Other variations, modificatiorls, and departures Lying
within the spirit of the invention and scope as defined by the
appended claims will be obvious to those skilled in the art.
