Gas and liquid contact apparatus – With external supply or removal of heat
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-26
2001-12-04
Bushey, C. Scott (Department: 1724)
Gas and liquid contact apparatus
With external supply or removal of heat
C261S028000, C261S078200, C261S089000, C261SDIG004, C280SDIG005
Reexamination Certificate
active
06325362
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not applicable.
STATEMENTS REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable.
REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX
Not applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for cooling and spraying a mist into the cab area of an open-air vehicle such as a golf cart.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many outdoor activities in hot, dry climates involve the use of open-air vehicles such as golf carts, boats, dune buggies and convertible sports utility vehicles. Also, agricultural vehicles and construction vehicles often have open-air cabs. Ambient temperatures at certain times of the year are quite hot, particularly at lower latitudes. It is desirable to have a method and apparatus for cooling the occupants of such open-air vehicles. The concept of spraying a fine water mist onto occupants of such open-air vehicles is a good one because evaporation of the mist from the skin causes cooling of the skin.
Insofar as known, however, existing misting devices have one or more of the following disadvantages:
1. They rely solely on evaporative cooling;
2. They lack a directional air flow to direct the mist onto the vehicle occupants;
3. The electrically powered components drain the batteries too rapidly;
4. They lack pressure relief systems to prevent dripping from the mist nozzles;
5. They require large surface area pads to cool air drawn through the pads;
6. The evaporative unit is mounted on the roof of a golf cart vehicle which is unsightly and places a significant weight at a point of lower structural strength.
There exists a need for a mist producing device for open-air vehicles which cools the liquid prior to atomization. There also exists a need to reduce the power consumption of misting devices to allow the occupants to play a round of golf without draining the battery power supply. There also exists a need for a method and apparatus for providing a nondripping, uniform mist directed into an open-air vehicle using a directional air flow to direct the mist onto the vehicle occupants.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A golf cart or other open-air vehicle is equipped with an apparatus for providing an atomized spray of water which is sprayed into an air flow directed into the cab area of the vehicle to provide evaporative cooling. A pump system draws water from a water reservoir and pumps the water into liquid conveying tubes which provides the pressurized water simultaneously to a pressure relief valve and to atomizing spray nozzles.
The spray nozzles are located so as to spray mist in front of a movable vent used to direct air flow from fans mounted in a housing. The directed air flow carries the water mist as an air/mist combination onto the occupants of the golf cart. The fan, fan motor, and heat exchanger may all be mounted in a housing which may be attached to the golf cart roof by an expandable bracket.
The misting device may also have a pressure activated switch mounted under the seat so as to automatically activate the misting device when an occupant sits down and automatically stops the misting device when the driver exits the golf cart to conserve water.
The misting apparatus may also include a heat exchanger to pre-cool the water after the water is pumped out of the reservoir and prior to the water reaching the spray nozzle assembly. The heat exchanger allows the misting device to spray a water mist that is below ambient temperature. This enhances the overall cooling effectiveness since a water mist that has a temperature below ambient temperature absorbs more heat energy prior to vaporization than water mist at ambient temperature.
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Baezner Alan L.
Barwell William C.
Fisher Jeff
Massey Mark E.
Massey Raymond O.
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld L.L.P.
Bushey C. Scott
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