Personal portable evaporative cooler

A personal portable evaporative cooling device comprising a cowling fitted to a person's back and spaced from said back to form a plenum into which ambient air is forced by an electric motor powered fan located in an opening in the cowling said opening located near the center of the cowling. The air exhausts through a gap between the periphery of the cowling and a person's back. The cowling is supported on said back by a harness. Electric power to the electric motor is provided by batteries carried on a waist band. Moisture is provided by perspiration.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to cooling devices, and in particular to portable 
personal cooling devices. In particular, portable personal cooling devices 
using air for ventilation and evaporative cooling. 
2. Prior Art 
The present invention relates to portable personal cooling in warm 
climates. Most approaches to portable personal cooling use a special 
garment in the form of a heat exchanger underwear such as in U.S. Pat. 
Nos. 3,425,486 to Burton, 3,425,487 to Tucker or 4,807,447 to MacDonald or 
a heat exchanger vest such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,118,946 to Tubin, 
4,691,762 to Elkins, and 4,856,294 to Scaringe, that have conduits for 
cooling fluids. The fluids must be cooled by machinery, ice or expanding 
gas. In the case of refrigeration machinery there is the added requirement 
for a power supply. With ice there is an ice reservoir containing a 
quantity of ice. With expanding gas there is required a gas tank, a 
quantity of gas and an expansion valve with a means of control. All of the 
components are of such a weight and bulk as to hinder casual movement and 
the complexity is expensive by comparison to the present invention. 
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
An object of the present invention is to provide a light weight inexpensive 
portable personal cooling device that allows a person to don it easily 
over any perspiration permeable garment or no garment and allows practical 
bodily movements while sitting, standing or walking, and that provides a 
means for dissipating body heat at a higher rate than is afforded by 
natural means. It is a further object of the present invention to provide 
a cowling that approximately conforms to the general contour of a back, 
and that the cowling is compliant so as to change the degree of curvature 
of said cowling in response to a back's normal articulation. According to 
the present invention, there is provided an electric motor driven fan to 
force air into a plenum formed by a body's back and a cowling spaced from 
the back. The purpose of the cowling is to guide the limited air flow 
available from a fan as the air flow diverges so that it flows at a higher 
velocity over more area of the back than can be realized with a fan and no 
cowling thus minimizing the size and weight of a fan and power source 
necessary for the cooling function. The air enters the plenum through an 
opening in the cowling and flows out at the periphery of the cowling. As 
the ambient air flows, it absorbs a body's heat. When the ambient air is 
lower in temperature than that of the body's back the air provides a 
cooling sensation. When a body's back provides perspirative moisture and 
the ambient air evaporates said moisture, a cooling sensation is provided 
at various ambient air temperatures that may be warmer than the body's 
skin. The electric motor and cowling are joined, and a harness attached to 
the cowling and motor assembly supports the assembly on a back while 
spacers attached to the inside surface of the cowling control the cross 
section of the plenum through which the air flows. The shoulder straps are 
connected to the side of the waist to minimize the slack in the shoulder 
strap that occurs when the back bends forward which could cause the 
cowling to ride up and down during repeated bending. The routing also 
avoids the area of the bosom on women as straps over the bosom are 
uncomfortable. Electric power is provided by an electric battery or 
plurality of electric batteries carried by a separate harness. The power 
supply having the densest and heaviest component of the system, is carried 
by the lower stronger part of the body on a waist band thereby making the 
weight on the shoulders (13 ounces more or less) via the shoulder straps 
minimal. An electrical connector is provided for easy connection and 
disconnection of the cooling device and electrical power supply.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Refer now to FIG. 1. The cowling 3 shaped to rest on a set of spacers 2 
that are attached on the inside of the cowling 3. The other end of the 
spacers 2 rest against a body's back 15 to space the cowling from the 
back. The cowling 3 supported thereon by a set of shoulder straps 6, 
lumbar straps 13, and a waist strap 14 forms a plenum 17 between the 
cowling 3 and said back 15. Shoulder straps 6 are attached to the motor 7 
and cowling 3 attachment at the top of the motor 7 and pass over the 
shoulders and attach to the waist strap 14 at the side. Said shoulder 
straps 6 support the cowling 3 between the small of the back 15 and the 
nape of the neck 22. Lumbar straps 13 which are fastened to the cowling 3 
pass from the bottom of the motor 7 and cowling 3 attachments downward and 
outward and fasten to the waist strap 14 at the side so as to hold the 
cowling 3 centered laterally and against the back 15 spaced from the back 
15 by the spacers 2. Refer now to FIG. 1 and FIG. 3. The cowling is shaped 
so that the cowling 3 held against said back 15 has an air gap 18 around 
the periphery of the cowling 3 to provide a means for air to flow out of 
the plenum 17. Refer now to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. The plenum 17 receives 
outside air through an opening 5 at or near the middle of the cowling 3. 
Means to force air into the plenum is provided by an electric motor 7 
mounted in said opening powering a fan 19. A source of electrical power is 
provided by a battery power supply comprising a battery 9 or plurality of 
batteries 9 removably secured to a separate waist band 8. Refer to FIGS. 2 
and 4. A power supply 9 to motor 7 interconnection is made by wires 20 and 
wires 24 terminating in electrical connector 21. Power is turned on and 
off by a manually operated electrical switch 23. Refer now to FIG. 3. The 
cowling 3 is made of light weight material such as foamed plastic in 
several hinged 10 segments 16. Each segment 16 has a curve on each end 
formed by flaps 1. The segments 16 and the flaps 1 of each segment 16 
conform approximate to the lateral curvature of the body's back 15 because 
of the hinging 10 of the segments 16 and lateral curvature of the segments 
16 of the cowling 3 which approximately conforms to the general contour of 
a back 15. The flaps 1 leave a gap between the cowling and the back 15 of 
lesser spacing than the spacing allowed by the spacers 2 so as to speed up 
the air as the air exhausts from the plenum 17. The cowling 3 is compliant 
so as to change the degree of curvature of the cowling 3 in response to a 
back's 15 articulation by the use of hinges 10 made of flexible material 
such as cloth which allows the segments 16 to articulate with a body's 
back 15 as the back 15 bends. Refer now to FIG. 1 and FIG. 3. Spongy 
material 12 is attached in the jambs 25 of the hinges 10 to make the 
hinged segments spring toward the back 15 as the back 15 bends and 
unbends. Refer now to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. The gaps between adjacent flaps 1 
are closed by flexible membranes 4 such as film or cloth which allow the 
segments to articulate but keep the air flow close to the body. 
In another embodiment, reversing the direction of the fan 19 causes outside 
air to flow into the plenum 17 through the air gap 18 which forces air to 
flow through the plenum in the opposite direction. The air is forced out 
of the plenum 17 through the opening 5. 
The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the invention has 
been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not 
intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form 
disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the 
above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the invention be limited 
not by this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto 
.