Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to air conditioning devices but more particularly to an evaporative air cooling device having a high speed of air passing through a curtain of water to thereby cool the same. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     Cooling air by means of evaporative cooling has been utilized for many years. Conventional evaporative cooling devices generally include a housing which may be square or round in which an air moving device such as a motor driven centrifugal blower is mounted to induce a flow of ambient air into the housing through water wetted pads, the air is cooled by the evaporative effect and the air moving device delivers the cooled air to a discharge location. Evaporative coolers of the type described above have found a wide acceptance because of their low initial and operational cost and their effectiveness at least during hot periods of relatively dry or low humidity. 
     OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
     This device is intended to stand alone to cool open areas that are not enclosed or at least partially enclosed but are otherwise open to the ambient air. 
     Porches, lanais or so-called Florida rooms during hot and humid days cannot be used because the ambient air under these conditions is very uncomfortable. The same can be said for garages if one wants to work therein. 
     More open spaces such as patios or terraces are equally effected by heat and humidity and therefore are less desirous to be used because of the comfort level involved. 
     There are completely open spaces that should be cooled to some extent at selected locations such as warehouses or workstations that are open to the ambient air. Included in this category are sport fields such as football fields, soccer fields or tennis courts. On football fields, for example, it is known to use axial air flow fans to cool the players on the bench simply by blowing air on them and a cooling effect is obtained by the evaporative effect of the perspiration on the players clothing and/or body. It is also contemplated that evaporatively cooled air is to be delivered to confined areas that should be temporarily cooled and no other cooling is available or feasible. 
     One such area would be an attic of a house where temporary work has to be performed but the heat prevailing in the same on a hot summer day would make such a task prohibitive. The cooling device of the invention would have an adapter so that a flexible length of an air duct could be connected and the cooled air could be delivered to the desired area. 
     The above objects of the invention are accomplished by presenting a stand-alone unit that is not connected to any type of building structure. The unit is a multi-sided structure by which air will be taken in by all of the sides of the structure into the interior of the structure by a centrifugal blower and then delivered upwardly to a directional spout. All of the sides of the structure have at their openings evaporative water supplied pads for optimum evaporative air flow. The evaporative cooling devices will be made in different sizes dependent on their intended use and application. In smaller units, the blower would have a direct drive electric motor, while in larger units it would be a belt drive electric motor. 
     In either application, the centrifugal blower is capable of cooling much greater areas due a much greater force of air distribution. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatically oscillating spout to deliver air evenly across the room. 
     Further advantages will become apparent in the description of the invention below. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,600 to Kelley shows an evaporative cooler that has a multi-sided cabinet with only one evaporative cooling pad contained therein. The multi-sided cabinet creates a tunnel to direct the moving air onto the pad. This is not a stand-alone unit and it is not intended to be so. The cooled air is directed into a confined area below. The unit does show a centrifugal blower to move the air. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,958 to Ella shows an evaporative cooling device using axial air flow fans that move the ambient air to evaporative cooling pads and thereafter to a designated location by flexible air ducts. The structure is a stand-alone unit and it can be moved relative to a supporting surface by means of casters. 
     U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,162,088 and 2,856,937 to Peng et al and Harris, respectively, are stand-alone units that are movable relative to a supporting surface by means of casters. Both Patents show the use of axial air flow fans. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 2,223,884 to Bolan shows an evaporative cooling unit used on an automobile. There is no driven cooling fan of any kind because the slip stream of the moving automobile creates the air flow through a wetted cooling pad. There is a movable air duct to direct cooled air to a predetermined location. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,188,007 to Myklebust is not an evaporative cooling device because there are no wettable cooling pads at all through which air may flow. It is simply a humidifier. It is a stand-alone structure, it uses a centrifugal air blower and the air is moving in from multi-sides. It does show a movable and directional spout to move air in different directions. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,350 to Johnson et al discloses a similar evaporative cooling device. However, the device of the Johnson patent has an unnecessary layer, the pre-filter panel  15 , that Applicant has found to be unnecessary for operation. Also, the spout  5  of Johnson does not oscillate as does Applicant&#39;s spout. 
     There are no other known evaporative cooling devices of the invention as claimed. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows a perspective and an exploded view of the evaporative cooling device; 
     FIG. 2 shows the same view as in FIG. 1 but with a different drive system; 
     FIG. 3 shows a more detailed view of the interior of the cooling system of the invention; 
     FIG. 4 shows an adapter with a flexible air duct attached thereto; 
     FIG. 5 shows a rotary six-position electric switch; 
     FIG. 6A is a detailed cross-section of the device of the present invention, taken at approximately the lines  6  of FIG. 1, showing the operation of the oscillating mechanism; 
     FIG. 6B is the same as FIG. 6A, with the oscillating mechanism in a second position; and 
     FIG. 7 is a cross-section of the device of the present invention, showing attachment of the oscillating mechanism to an electric motor. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIG. 1, as stated above, shows a perspective and an exploded view of the evaporative cooling device of the invention. As can be seen the device consists of a four-sided structure in the form of a cabinet. The structure does not have to be four-sided but could instead consist of a triangle all the way up to the shape of a pentagon or an octagon. However, a square configuration is preferred because of its simplicity of construction and its efficiency of operation. A triangular configuration would not deliver the magnitude of the airflow contemplated by this invention. A configuration of more sides than four would satisfy the required magnitude of the airflow but the cost of construction would not satisfy the relative low price contemplated by this invention experiments have shown that more sides than four will not add to the efficiency of the device. 
     As can be seen in FIG. 1, the structure in its horizontal plane has the shape of a square and there is a sump  1  in the bottom of the device. 
     The sump  1  is made of an ABS plastic material to avoid corrosion because it is in constant contact with water. Connected to the sump  1  are four upright or vertical supports  2  which are of a channel shaped configuration in the form of a pentagon, although other shapes can be used. The channels are formed into their shapes by bending or they can be extruded. It is important that they are shape-locked or made rigid by their shape because they transfer strength to the basic structure of the cabinet because of the load they have to carry. Connected to the top ends of the vertical supports are horizontal braces  3  which are channels open at their bottoms the purpose of which will be explained below. The square configuration of braces  3  will receive a top cover  4 , also made of an ABS plastic material so as to be corrosion resistant. A directional spout  5  is attached to the cover  4  and fastened in a way to be explained below. To complete the structure of the cabinet and its sturdiness, reinforcing plates  6  are attached to all four corners of the sump  1 . The plates are further reinforced by upwardly extending braces  7  which are attached by welding to the plates  6  and then to the corner vertical supports  2  by either welding or by bolts or rivets. Since the sump  1  will contain water, the water is supplied by a coupling (not shown) through a hose  9 . One of the objects indicated above, has been that the unit, structure or cabinet be free standing and be movable. Therefore, casters  10  are provided to render the structure movable relative a support surface. 
     There are corner covers  12 , also made of a corrosion resistant ABS plastic material, which are fastened to the channel-shaped vertical supports  2  by either rivets or bolts  34 . As can be seen now, the structure or the cabinet now has large openings on all of its four sides. The openings are now provided with the necessary elements to make it into an evaporative cooling device. To this end, panels are provided and removably fastened in the openings. A high efficiency evaporative pad  16  is placed innermost in the opening and it is constantly wetted by water drip pipes  17  placed on top of each panel. 
     The water drip pipes are placed in the horizontal channels  3  which are open at their bottoms, as explained above, so that the drip pipes  17  are concealed therein but at the same time can execute their function and that is to deliver water to the top of the evaporative panels  16  so that water can thoroughly wet the same by gravity flowing downwardly. 
     Finally, there is an outer plastic honeycomb panel  14  closing off the opening. While this is not exactly essential, it protects the inner panels from damage and lends an aesthetic appearance to the overall structure. 
     Returning to the sump  1  in the bottom of the structure or the cabinet, there is a water hose connection  8  for the supply of water through water hose  9 . At this point it should be stated that in most devices, the water sump  1  is large enough to hold water of sufficient volume for an operation of up to eight hours so that the water supply hose  9  does not have to continuously stay connected to assure an extended cooling operation. This feature makes the device a truly stand-alone unit. In order to make the unit movable relative to a supporting surface, casters  10  are provided on all four corners which are fastened to support plates  6 . To finish the structure or cabinet and to give it an attractive appearance, corner covers  12  are provided on all four corners and they are fastened to the vertical supports  2  by way screws or rivets  34 . An access door  13  is provided through the sandwich of evaporation pad  16 , and the outer honeycomb cover  14  so that access can be had through the sandwich to the interior of the device to gain access to the drain plug  43  (FIG. 4) or to place a block of ice therein during extreme temperature conditions. 
     Water drip pipes  17  are placed within the open bottom channels  3  so that they are concealed therein, whereby the dripping water will wet the evaporative pads and will flow downwardly by gravity and any excess water will return into the sump  1 . Water is supplied to drip pipes  17  by vertical water delivery pipes  18 , as will be explained in more detail below. 
     There is a centrifugal blower  19  which draws air into the interior of the device from all four sides. The blower is driven by an electric motor  20  and by belt or belts  21 . A belt drive  17  is preferred in larger units that are used in wide open areas. 
     The centrifugal blower is contained in housing  22  which housing  22  has an exit at  23 . The housing  22  with its exit  23  is supported by braces  24  and  25  at an upper end of the structure or cabinet. 
     The top cover  4  has a circular recess  26  which matches the lower ring  26   a  of the top cover  4 . This enables the spout  5  to be rotatable relative to the cover  4 . The exit  23  of housing  22  matches the rectangular opening  27  in the top cover  4  so as to be connected thereto in an air-tight manner. 
     It is desirable that the spout be arrested in any of its rotatable positions. 
     To this end, there is an adjusting knob  28  at the top of the spout  5  which knob in turn is fastened to screw threaded bolt  29 . The screw threaded bolt  29  is received in a Nylon lock nut which is fastened by brackets in the opening  23 . In this manner, when the knob  28  is turned in a clock-wise fashion, the spout  5  with its ring  26   a  is arrested within the circular recess  26  of the top cover  4 . This arrangement assures that the spout stays in its adjusted direction because any vibrations cannot jar loose the clamping effect. 
     It is desirable, at any time, to quickly ascertain the water level in the sump when the device is used as a stand-alone unit and is not connected to water supply hose  9 . There is a float rod  32  which has at its bottom a float ball  32   a  (FIG. 3) and the float rod extends into the water level indicator  33  which is mounted on top of cover  4 . The float ball  32   a  rides on top of the water level in sump  1  and as it rises or lowers the float rod  32  follows the movement of the float ball  32   a  and such a movement is indicated at the water level indicator  33 . 
     Finally, there is a six-position switch  35  mounted on one of the plastic corner covers  12 , the function of which will be explained below with reference to FIG.  5 . 
     Reference is now being made to FIG. 2 wherein like reference characters have been applied to the same elements as shown in FIG.  1 . The only difference from FIG. 1 in FIG. 2 is that the drive motor  20  driving the blower  19  is a direct drive motor to thereby eliminate the belt or belts  21 . This kind of a drive is preferred in smaller devices or cabinets that should be used in semi-enclosed structures such as porches, lanais, garages etc. 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective and an exploded view of the evaporative cooling device which allows a more detailed view of the interior of the device. 
     Like reference characters have been applied in this view to the same elements as can be found in FIGS. 1 and 2. There is a water connection (not shown) which is connected to the water hose  9 . The water connection leads into a water shut-off device  37 . The water shut-off device is intended to shut off the water supply to the sump  1  when a maximum of water is detected within the sump. This detection is accomplished by the float ball  38 . 
     There is also a sump pump  39  which supplies water to drip pipes  17  within the channels  3 . The sump pump  39  has a float  40  which controls the operation of the pump  39  when a minimum of the water level in sump  1  has been detected. When the pump  39  is in operation, the pumped water from the pump exits into a divider tee  41  which directs water to two diagonally placed vertical water supply pipes  18  and  18   a  by way of water hoses  41  and  42 . 
     With reference to FIG. 1, it has been indicated that there is a six-position rotary switch  35  mounted on one of the corner covers  12 . In FIG. 3 it can be seen that the rotary switch  35  is connected to switch housing interiorly of the corner cover  12 . A power line  35   b  leads into the housing. The various positions and functions of the switch  35  are shown in FIG.  5 . 
     FIG. 4 shows a further development of the invention wherein the evaporatively cooled air can be directed to specifically enclosed areas, such as when working in an attic, and of course other areas, on a temporary basis. This is accomplished by providing an adapter  43  which fits over the opening  31  of spout  5 . As can be seen the rectangular opening  31  is converted into a round opening to accommodate a circular and flexible air duct  45 . The air duct  45  is fastened to the adapter  43  by means of a well known clamping ring  44 . 
     The rotary switch in FIG. 5, seems to be self-explanatory. At the 12 o&#39;clock position, there is the system OFF position. The 2 o&#39;clock position operates the pump only. This is desirable when a pre-wetting of the evaporative pads is preferred. The pump and blower high speed position is called for under extreme temperature and humidity conditions, while the 6 o&#39;clock position will suffice under low humidity and/or temperature conditions. The 8 o&#39;clock position is used to dry the evaporative pads after a shut-down of the device and when high humidity conditions are prevailing. While the 10 o&#39;clock position is desired when the system is shut-down and a drying of the pads is easily accomplished when the ambient air humidity is low. A drying of the evaporative pads after the system has shut down is highly desirable because any moisture inherently remaining in the pads will lead to undesirable formations of mold or formations formed by calcium deposits which tend to clog the open spaces within the evaporative pads. 
     In a second embodiment of the present invention, the spout  5  is attached to the rest of the device in such a manner that the spout  5  oscillates alternatively counterclockwise and clockwise about an axis defined by the threaded bolt  29 . 
     In the second embodiment, shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the spout  5  is attached to cross member  46 . In turn, cross member  46  is pivotally connected to the threaded bolt  29 . Threaded bolt  29  passes through aperture  47  and then threadingly engages cross strut  48 . 
     A linkage  50  is attached, preferably to the circular recess  26 . The linkage  50  comprises a rotating block  52  which is connected at a first end  54  to an oscillating electric motor  70  by its shaft  72 . As the shaft  72  rotates, the rotating block  52  moves clockwise in the direction indicated by the small arrow in FIG.  6 A. 
     A socket  56  is formed in the second end  57  of the rotating block  52 . A ball  58  is loosely engaged in the socket  56  so that the ball may move in three axes of rotation. Connected to the ball  58  is the rod  60 . The rod  60  is also connected to secondary ball  62  at the other end of the rod, and the secondary ball  62  rotates freely in the secondary socket  64 . Socket  64  is securely attached to the cross member  46  at a point displaced from the threaded rod  29 , the axis of rotation of the spout  5 . 
     As seen in FIGS. 6A and 6B, as the rotating block  52  rotates in the direction shown by the arrow, the rod  60  will rotate freely in the socket  56  and secondary socket  64 , moving from the position shown in FIG. 6A to that shown in phantom FIG.  6 A. As it does so, the rod  60  will cause the spout  5  to rotate about the threaded rod  29 , between the positions shown in phantom lines in FIG.  6 A. As the rotating block  52  continues to rotate, the rod will cause the spout  5  to rotate back as shown in FIG. 6B, and so forth. 
     The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiment be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being made to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

Technology Category: 4