Patent Publication Number: US-7900291-B2

Title: Blower system for health booth

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of Invention 
     The invention relates to blowers and more particularly to a blower system including one or more blower assemblies including a motor driven fan and a heating element and being mounted in the base of a health booth for providing a heat environment to an occupant. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Steam shower rooms such as sauna or Turkish baths are popular throughout the world. Further, for example, a booth shaped sauna is also available for home or portable use. One type of conventional steam booth is provided with an ambient air inlet on the base for drawing cold air thereinto and a top air outlet for escaping steam. One drawback of the conventional steam booth is that the air inlet is provided directly below the occupant and thus a nude occupant tends to get cold due to direct cold air blowing thereto. 
     There have been numerous suggestions in prior patents for steam booth. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,931 discloses a collapsible booth. Thus, continuing improvements in the exploitation of health booth including steam booth having an improved blower system are constantly being sought. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore one object of the invention to provide a blower system in a booth including a hollow base, an internal space, and an air outlet, the blower system comprising at least one blower assembly in the base, each blower assembly including a heating element and a motor driven fan; and pipe means communicating with both the base and the space. In response to activating the at least one blower assembly, the fan of each of the at least one blower assembly is adapted to blow ambient air past the hot heating element for heating the air, and the hot air is adapted to enter the space through the pipe means. By utilizing this blower system, an occupant can relax in a heat environment. 
     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective schematic view of a health booth incorporating a first preferred embodiment of blower system according to the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of the base of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a view similar to  FIG. 2  showing a second preferred embodiment of blower system according to the invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a view similar to  FIG. 2  showing a third preferred embodiment of blower system according to the invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a view similar to  FIG. 2  showing a fourth preferred embodiment of blower system according to the invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a longitudinal sectional view of a portion of health booth incorporating a fifth preferred embodiment of blower system according to the invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of the base of  FIG. 6  showing the location of the blower arrangement; and 
         FIG. 8  is a view similar to  FIG. 7  showing a sixth preferred embodiment of blower system according to the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a health booth incorporating a blower system in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the invention is shown at  10 . The booth  10  is rectangular in section and comprises a front door  11 , a handle  12  at one edge of the door  11  for opening or closing the door  11 , an opening  13  on the door  11  and being disposed to the right of an upper portion of the handle  12  with a glass window  14  fitted therein, an internal space  15 , an air outlet  16  on the roof, a hollow base  21  in communication with the atmosphere and separated from the space  15 , four upright channels  20  at four corners of the booth housing, each channel  20  having a bottom end in communication with the base  21  and including a plurality of holes (not numbered) in communication with the space  15 , a heatproof unit  40  at each of four side walls, a blower arrangement provided in the base  21  and including a motor driven fan  30  and a heating element  31 , and an on/off switch  32  on the booth housing and being disposed to the left of the upper portion of the handle  12 . 
     In use, an occupant turns on the switch  32  to activate the blower arrangement. The fan  30  thus rotates in high speed to blow ambient air past hot coils of wire of the heating element  31 . As such, the air is heated. The hot air then flows to the channels  20  prior to entering the space  15  through the holes. As an end, the occupant can relax in a heat environment. 
     The air outlet  16  is adapted to escape hot air. Also, both rotation speed of the fan  30  and temperature of the heating element  31  can be controlled by a control device well known in the art. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2  specifically, the blower arrangement comprises only one blower assembly having a fan  30  and a heating element  31  and the blower arrangement is provided at a front end of the base  21 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , a second preferred embodiment of blower system according to the invention is shown. The blower arrangement of the blower system comprises two opposite blower assemblies having a fan  30  and a heating element  31  in which one blower assembly is provided at a front end of the base  21  and the other blower assembly is provided at a rear end of the base  21 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a third preferred embodiment of blower system according to the invention is shown. The blower arrangement of the blower system comprises two opposite blower assemblies having a fan  30  and a heating element  31  in which one blower assembly is provided at a left side of the base  21  and the other blower assembly is provided at a right side of the base  21 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , a fourth preferred embodiment of blower system according to the invention is shown. The blower arrangement of the blower system comprises four blower assemblies having a fan  30  and a heating element  31  in which a first blower assembly is provided at a front end of the base  21 , a second blower assembly is provided at a rear end of the base  21 , a third blower assembly is provided at a left side of the base  21 , and a fourth blower assembly is provided at a right side of the base  21 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , a fifth preferred embodiment of blower system according to the invention is shown. The blower arrangement of the blower system comprises only on blower assembly having a fan  30  and a heating element  31  and the blower arrangement is provided in a center of the base  21 . Moreover, each channel  20  includes a plurality of holes  201  in communication with the space  15 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 8 , a sixth preferred embodiment of blower system according to the invention is shown. The blower arrangement of the blower system comprises two spaced blower assemblies having a fan  30  and a heating element  31  in which one blower assembly is provided about between a center of the base and the left side thereof, and the other blower assembly is provided about between the center of the base and the right side thereof. 
     While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.