AIR HUMIDIFICATION DEVICE
An air humidification device (1) includes a housing (2) having a front side and a rear side, on which housing an air inlet opening (3) and an air outlet opening as well as a water connection (5) for supplying water are provided. A porous ceramic plate is disposed in the housing in the air guide path thereof, which is formed between the air inlet opening and the air outlet opening, in such a way that the air passing through the air humidification device flows through the ceramic plate. The ceramic plate is surrounded by a frame at least on the front side, which frame is detachably and reattachably fixed in the housing. The housing has a detachable and reattachable housing wall part (4), upon removal of which the frame with the ceramic plate is accessible and can be removed from or inserted into the housing, respectively. In this way, an easy cleaning of the ceramic plate is possible.
This application is a National Stage application of International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2019/078895, filed on Oct. 23, 2019, which claims priority to Swiss Patent Application No. 01365/18 filed on Nov. 6, 2018, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe invention relates to an air humidification device comprising a housing having a front side and a rear side and having an air inlet opening and an air outlet opening as well as having a water connection for supplying water, and having a porous ceramic plate which is disposed in the air guide path of the housing formed by the housing between the air inlet opening and the air outlet opening in such a way that air passing through the air humidification device flows through the ceramic plate. Further, the invention relates to the use of the air humidification device for humidifying air in an apartment or a single-family house.
BACKGROUNDAir humidification devices are known in various designs. In particular, air humidification devices are known on the market, which can be attached to air ducts or air boxes of a building ventilation system of a single-family house, such that humidified air can be supplied to all rooms connected to the ventilation system. Such air humidification devices use metal meshes as elements in which the air comes into contact with the water. However, such metal meshes may prove to be unstable and unsuitable from a hygienic point of view. From CH 687 417 it is known to use porous ceramic bodies as evaporation elements in an air humidification device which is arranged directly in an air duct. Porous ceramic bodies in air humidifiers are further known from CH 696 694 as well as from EP 1 522 797, from EP 1 522 798 and from EP 1 541 932. Ceramic bodies are used in large humidifiers and, as mentioned in CH 687 417, are cleaned by a pyrolitic process or by acidification to maintain hygienic requirements. However, this is too complex in practice for small air humidification systems for apartments or single-family houses.
SUMMARYThe invention is based on the problem to provide an improved air humidification device, which is particularly suitable for use in ventilation systems of single-family houses or apartments.
This problem is solved in that the ceramic plate is at least partially surrounded on the front side by a frame, which frame is detachably fixed in the housing, and in that the housing has a detachable and reattachable housing wall part, in particular arranged on the front side of the housing, during the removal of which the frame with the ceramic plate is accessible and can be removed from or inserted into the housing, respectively.
This design of the air humidification device makes it possible to easily remove the ceramic plate from the housing. The frame, which is usually formed of plastic, thereby enables on the one hand the handling of the ceramic plate, which has sharp edges, without any risk of injury to the user. Furthermore, the frame enables easy handling due to its detachable fastening in the housing and results in a well-defined insertion of the unit of the ceramic plate and the frame in the housing. Particularly preferably, the detachable housing wall part is arranged at the front side of the housing which results in a further facilitation of the handling of the ceramic plate.
Preferably, the frame and the housing have cooperating snap-in fastening means, which result in an easy removal and insertion of the ceramic plate. Preferably, the air humidification device is equipped only with a single ceramic plate, which also facilitates the handling and the preferred method of cleaning. It is actually preferred that the frame and the ceramic plate are designed to be dishwasher safe, which allows an easy cleaning in a household dishwasher. In this way, a hygienic operation of the air humidification device by the user can be ensured in a simple manner. Accordingly, the ceramic plate with the frame at least partially surrounding it is sized in such a way that it can be placed in a conventional household dishwasher for cleaning. Preferably, the ceramic plate is designed as a single plate with flat plate sides, which is also advantageous for cleaning.
Preferably, the water supply of the air humidification device in its housing is arranged in such a way that the water for air humidification is supplied from the water connection of the housing to the ceramic plate or is delivered to it, respectively, in particular is delivered directly to a front face of the ceramic plate. The direct delivery of water to the ceramic plate enables an efficient humidification, such that sufficient humidification for a single-family house or apartment can be achieved with a single ceramic plate. In particular, it is foreseen that through the water guidance of the air humidification device in the housing, the water can be discharged onto the upper side of the frame and the frame has water guide elements on the upper side for the distribution of the water.
Further, for an easy mounting of the air humidification device on the outside of an air duct or an air box of a building ventilation system, it is preferred that the air inlet opening has a connection for an air hose on opposite sides of the housing and that the respective unused connection can be closed. It is further preferably foreseen that the air outlet opening is arranged at the rear of the housing. This facilitates a mounting on the outside of an air duct or an air box of the building ventilation system. It is further preferred that the size of the air outlet opening on the rear side substantially corresponds to the width times length or area, respectively, of the ceramic plate not covered by the frame. Thus, a large volume of air can be delivered to the air duct through the preferably single ceramic plate. A collar around the air outlet opening allows for the substantially airtight connection to a corresponding opening in an air duct on which the air humidification device is mounted. Preferably, the rear side of the housing is further configured in such a way that the housing can be attached with its rear side to an outer surface of an air duct or an air box of a building ventilation system. In this way, the air outlet opening can be aligned with an opening in the air duct or in the air box, and the humidified air exiting from the air humidification device directly enters the air duct or the air box.
The invention further relates to the use of an air humidification device according to the invention for humidifying air via the building ventilation system of an apartment or a single-family house according to claim 11. Thereby, the mentioned advantages are achieved.
Further embodiments, advantages and applications of the invention are apparent from the dependent claims and from the description which now follows with reference to the figures. Thereby show:
The
This comprises the air outlet opening 10. This may be surrounded by a collar 11, which projects into the air duct when the air humidification device 1 is mounted on the air duct via an opening therein. A seal 13 may be provided for an air-tight connection of the air humidification device 1 on the air duct. In
The frame 14 is held in the housing in a detachable and reattachable manner, so that by detaching the frame from the housing, the frame with the ceramic plate can be removed from the housing and subsequently reinserted and reattached in the housing.
Because the air humidification device with the ceramic plate is arranged on the outside of an air duct or an air box, respectively, of a building ventilation system, the ceramic plate is easily accessible for cleaning. The removal of the porous ceramic plate from the housing of the air humidification device 1 can be performed easily and safely thanks to the frame, which is generally made of a plastic material and which protects the operator's hands from the sharp-edged parts of the ceramic plate. The removal of the ceramic plate allows for its cleaning in a simple way. Preferably, for ease of removal and cleaning, only a single ceramic plate is foreseen in the air humidification device 1 and its dimensions with the frame are preferably chosen such that the frame with the ceramic plate can be placed in a household dishwasher, such that a cleaning of the ceramic plate and the frame can be performed using a dishwashing detergent and a cleaning program of the dishwasher. Accordingly, the frame must be formed of a dishwasher-safe plastic, and in the case of the ceramic plate, its dishwasher-safe nature is generally given anyway. This simple cleaning possibility, which results from the simple and hazard-free removability and reinsertability, permits a hygienic operation of the air humidification device 1 with simple compliance with the desired cleaning intervals for the ceramic plate or for the humidifying means, respectively, of the air humidification device 1.
The
At the upper end of the conduit 16, the water is discharged from the conduit onto the ceramic plate. This is preferably achieved in such a way that the water is discharged onto the upper side of the frame, and the frame is designed on its upper side with only indicated water guide elements 19, in particular channel-like water guide elements, to substantially uniformly distribute the water along and onto the upper front side of the ceramic plate, for which purpose the water guide elements have corresponding openings in the bottom thereof. Instead of this preferred embodiment, the conduit could also have a plurality of outlet points for discharging the water onto the ceramic plate.
While preferred embodiments of the invention are described in the present application, it should be clearly noted that the invention is not limited thereto and may as well be carried out in other ways within the scope of the following claims.
Claims
1-11. (canceled)
12. An air humidification device comprising a housing with a front side and a rear side, on which housing an air inlet opening and an air outlet opening as well as a water connection for the supply of water are foreseen, and with a porous ceramic plate, which is arranged in the housing in its air guide path, which is formed between the air inlet opening and the air outlet opening, in such a manner that the air passing through the air humidification device flows through the ceramic plate, wherein the ceramic plate is surrounded at least at the front side by a frame, which frame is detachably and reattachably fixed in the housing, wherein the housing comprises a detachable and reattachable housing wall part, upon removal of which the frame with the ceramic plate is accessible and is removeable from or insertable into the housing, respectively, and wherein a water guide is foreseen in the housing from the water connection in such a way that the water for air humidification is discharged onto the upper front side of the ceramic plate.
13. The air humidification device according to claim 12 wherein the ceramic plate is arranged vertically in the housing.
14. The air humidification device according to claim 12 wherein the water guide is designed to discharge the water first onto the upper side of the frame and the frame has water guide elements on the upper side for distributing the water onto the front side of the ceramic plate.
15. The air humidification device according to claim 12 wherein the frame is designed on its upper side with channel-like water guide elements for substantially uniform distribution of the water along and onto the upper front side of the ceramic plate, for which purpose the water guide elements have corresponding openings in the bottom thereof.
16. The air humidification device according to claim 12 wherein a conduit leads upwards in the housing from the water connection, which conduit has a plurality of outlet points at the upper end for discharging the water onto the ceramic plate.
17. The air humidification device according to claim 12 wherein a single ceramic plate is foreseen, and in particular wherein the ceramic plate has flat plate sides.
18. The air humidification device according to claim 12 wherein the frame and the housing comprise cooperating snap-in fastening means.
19. The air humidification device according to claim 12 wherein the frame and the ceramic plate are designed to be dishwasher-safe.
20. The air humidification device according to claim 12 wherein the air inlet opening is designed in such a way that a connection for an air hose is foreseen on each of opposite sides of the housing, wherein the respective unused connection of the two connections is closeable by a closure.
21. The air humidification device according to claim 12 wherein the air outlet opening is arranged at the rear of the housing.
22. The air humidification device according to claim 21 wherein the size of the air outlet opening at the rear side substantially corresponds to the area of the ceramic plate not covered by the frame, and wherein the air outlet opening comprises a collar surrounding the air outlet opening and projecting away from the rear side.
23. The air humidification device according to claim 12 wherein the rear side of the housing is designed in such a way that the housing is fixable with its rear side in a substantially flat manner to an outer surface of an air duct or an air box of a building ventilation system, such that the air outlet opening can be aligned with an opening in the air duct or in the air box.
24. The use of an air humidification device according to claim 12 for humidifying air via the building ventilation system of an apartment or a single-family house, wherein the air humidification device is mounted on the outside of an air duct or an air box of the building ventilation system and discharges the humidified air via the air outlet opening of the air humidification device into the interior of the air duct or the air box.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 23, 2019
Publication Date: Jan 6, 2022
Inventors: Gerhard Münzberg (Obstalden), Michael De Boer (Hamburg)
Application Number: 17/291,523