Abstract:
Illuminated controls for use with air moving products such as fans and humidifiers wherein the controls for motor speed, temperature, or humidity are illuminated by an electroluminescent panel to show the location and settings.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to controls for air moving products such as fans or humidifiers, of the type that are illuminated to show the general control location, as well as the control settings for the speed,or thermostat for fans, or humidistat settings for humidifiers. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Air moving products such as fans and humidifiers are widely used in many locations, and are often used in bedrooms. It is desirable to be able at any time to change the temperature, or degree of humidity, or the speed of the motor which circulates the air in the room. 
     It is desirable to be able to view the settings on the fan or humidifier at night without turning on a light, however while illumination of the thermostat, or humidistat, or switch control must be easily visible it should be unobtrusive. 
     In the prior art it is known to use LED&#39;S or minature incadescent lights or neon bulbs to illustrate the status of the apparatus, such as on/off,the bulbs may not be located at the control, and are not useful to show the exact location and status of the control. 
     The illuminated controls of the invention show both the location and status of the control. 
     The illuminated controls of the invention do not suffer from prior art problems, and provide many positive advantages. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It has now been found that illuminated controls are available to control the speed,and temperature, or humidity as well as indicate the control location on an air moving product,such as a fan, or humidifier by using an electroluminescent panel to illuminate the control. 
     The principal object of the invention is to provide illumination of the control location for the thermostat, humidistat, or motor speed controls for air moving products,such as fans,or humidifiers, and to provide illuminated settings for these controls. 
     A further object of the invention is to provide controls of the character aforesaid that are usable with a wide variety of air circulating fans. 
     A further object of the invention is to provide controls of the character aforesaid that are usable with humidifiers. 
     A further object of the invention is to provide controls of the character aforesaid that are simple and inexpensive to construct, but sturdy, reliable, and long lasting in operation. 
     A further object of the invention is to provide controls of the character aforesaid that provide excellent visibility of the controls, but are unobtrusive to the user. 
     A further object of the invention is to provide controls of the character aforesaid, which are inexpensive to operate. 
     Other objects and advantageous features of the invention will be apparent from the description and claims. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The nature and characteristic features of the invention will be more readily understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part hereof in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a front view of a pedestal fan incorporating the illuminated controls of the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the pedestal fan of FIG. 1, and 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded, perspective view of the illuminated controls of the invention. 
     It should, of course, be understood that the description and drawings herein are merely illustrative, and that various modifications and changes can be made in the structures disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention. 
     Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     When referring to the preferred embodiment, certain terminology will be utilized for the sake of clarity. Use of such terminology is intended to encompass not only the described embodiment, but also technical equivalents which operate and function in substantially the same way to bring about the same result. 
     Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, a portion of a pedestal fan  10  of well known type is therein illustrated. The fan  10  include a fan shroud  11 , and a fan motor housing  12  to which the shroud  11  is attached. 
     The shroud  11  has a fan blade assembly therein (not shown) driven by a fan motor (not shown) located in the fan motor housing  12 . The fan motor has a bracket  14  attached thereto by bolts  15 , which bracket  14  is connected to the forks  16  of a yoke  17  by a bolt (not shown). 
     The yoke  17  is connected to tubing  18 , which extends to a base (not shown), which supports the fan  10 . 
     Referring additionally to FIG. 3 the yoke  17  is illustrated in detail, and which is of two piece molded plastic construction, with a hollow tubing body  18 , and a cover  19 . 
     The yoke  17  has an opening  20 , with a coupling  21  secured therein, which has a hollow, thermostat control knob  22  adjacent thereto, the knob  22  having a groove  23  engaged with a rim  24  of the cover  19 , and the body  18 , permitting rotation of the knob  22 . 
     A cylindrical connector  25  is fixedly engaged to the coupling  21 , and within and between it and the knob  22 , is a panel  26  of electroluminescent film. The panel  26  is available from Jinxin Chemical Electronic Instruments Co.LTD of Shenzhen, China. The panel  26  includes a thin flexible lightweight substrate (not shown) of electroluminescent material, with a thin transparent protective cover (not shown) thereon of well known type. The panel  26  is connected to the electrical energy source (not shown) for the fan by wires (not shown). 
     The connector  25  has indicia thereon, which corresponds to the settings desired for the temperature range for an air moving product, or for a humidifier for the range of desired humidity. 
     The connector  25  is of hollow configuration, with a speed control switch  30  of well known type engaged therewith, with an input shaft  31  extending through an opening  32  in connector  25 , which shaft has a speed control knob  33  engaged therewith, inside of thermostat knob  22 , and which rotates input shaft  31  to cause the speed of the fan motor (not shown) to change. 
     The knob  33  is provided with indicia  34  thereon to indicate its position for the selected motor speeds. 
     A thermostat control  35  is provided, attached to switch  30 , which has an input shaft  36 , pointing towards the yoke  17 . A thermostat knob link  37  is provided, attached to input shaft  36 , with an arm  38  extending forwardly and engaged in a groove (not shown) in thermostat knob  22  for rotation of link  37 , and input shaft  36  of control switch  35 , to activate the fan motor (not shown) as required. The mode of operation will now be pointed out. 
     The fan  10  electrical cord (not shown) is connected to a source of electrical energy. The knob  22  is rotated to display the desired temperature setting which rotates link  37  to vary the position of input shaft  36  and the on/off operation of the fan motor (not shown). The panel  26  provides illumination of knob  22 , and also illumination of the speed control knob  33 , which is rotated to determine the desired speed of the fan motor. 
     It should be noted that a humidistat (not shown) can be substituted for the thermostat for use in a humidifier embodiment. 
     It will thus be seen that structure has been provided with which the objects of the invention are obtained.