Refrigeration – Atmosphere and sorbent contacting type
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-25
2001-10-16
Doerrler, William (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Atmosphere and sorbent contacting type
C062S093000, C062S094000, C062S186000, C062S412000, C062S049200, C236S04400R, C236S04400R
Reexamination Certificate
active
06301915
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dehumidification apparatus.
II. Description of the Related Art
Various dehumidification apparatuses utilizing deliquescent dehumidification agents such as calcium chloride are known. As a typical example of this type of known dehumidification apparatuses, the dehumidification apparatus described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application (Kokai) No. 10-192641 will now be described referring to FIG.
12
.
The known dehumidification apparatus
100
shown in
FIG. 12
comprises a container
101
and a cover
102
enclosing an electric fan
115
. On the bottom
101
a
of the container, granular deliquescent dehumidification agent D such as calcium chloride which absorbs moisture in the air is laid.
The container
101
is closed except for an opening
104
formed in the upper portion of the container
101
. A cap
106
having a vertically extending cylindrical air-introducing duct
105
is mounted on the container
101
such that the cap
106
covers the opening
104
.
The cover
102
comprises a cylindrical air-discharging duct
110
which vertically extends and coaxially nested in the air-introducing duct
105
. The distal end of the air-discharging duct
110
protrudes from the distal end of the air-introducing duct
105
. The cover
102
includes a lower cover
113
having an air inlet
112
which communicates with an air-introducing passage
111
formed between the outer surface of the air-discharging duct
110
and the inner surface of the air-introducing duct
105
. The cover
102
has an upper cover
116
having an air outlet
114
which communicates with the inner side of the container
101
through the air-discharging duct
110
. The upper cover
116
harbors the electric fan
115
and a battery
117
which gives the power to drive the fan
115
.
In operation, the fan
115
is driven. As a result, air is drawn through the air inlet
112
and the air-introducing passage
111
into the inside of the container
101
. The air is then discharged from the apparatus from the air outlet
114
through the air-discharging duct
110
. Since the air contacts the deliquescent dehumidification agent D on the bottom of the container, the moisture contained in the air is absorbed by the deliquescent dehumidification agent D and the air is dried. On the other hand, the absorbed moisture is converted to deliquesced liquid and accumulated on the bottom
101
a
of the container
101
.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Application (Kokai) No. 2-227115 proposes to separate the deliquescent dehumidification agent D and the deliquesced liquid by harboring the deliquescent dehumidification agent D on a porous plate arranged on the upper portion of the container
101
so that the deliquesced liquid drops onto the bottom
101
a
of the container through the pores formed in the porous plate. Since the deliquescent dehumidification agent D is separated from the deliquesced liquid and so can be kept relatively dry, the ability to absorb moisture is kept high.
In both of the above-described known dehumidification apparatuses, as shown in
FIG. 12
, the distal ends of the air-introducing duct
105
and the air-discharging duct
110
open above the deliquesced liquid accumulated on the bottom
101
a
of the container
101
. Therefore, if the dehumidification apparatus is tumbled or reversed, the deliquesced liquid and the granular deliquescent agent may leak from the apparatus through the air-discharging duct
110
and through the air outlet
114
, or through the air-introducing passage
101
and through the air inlet
112
.
Further, to minimize the possibility of the leakage of the deliquesced liquid from the apparatus, the ends of the distal ends of the air-introducing duct
105
and the air-discharging duct
110
open at a location near the three-dimensional center of the container
101
. Therefore, the deliquesced liquid cannot be accumulated to a level higher than the distal ends of the air-introducing duct
105
and the air-discharging duct
110
, that is, about the half point of the height of the container. In other words, the container must have an inner volume more than twice of the upper limit of the volume of the deliquesced liquid to be accumulated, which is problematic for attaining compaction of the apparatus.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a dehumidification apparatus with which it is secured that the deliquesced liquid does not leak from the apparatus even if the apparatus is tumbled or reversed.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a dehumidification apparatus with which the deliquesced liquid can be accumulated to a higher level in the vessel than with the known dehumidification apparatuses.
That is, the present invention provides a dehumidification apparatus comprising: a container containing a deliquescent dehumidification agent, which container has at least one air inlet and at least one air outlet, and has an upper plate covering the container; at least one closing member which can close the air inlet and the air outlet; at least one movable member having each distal end, which member can move in the vertical direction, which member is attached to the closing member, and which member is urged downwardly such that when the dehumidification apparatus is not placed with its bottom down, the distal end of the movable member protrudes from the bottom of the apparatus so that the closing member closes the air inlet and the air outlet, and when the dehumidification apparatus is placed on a plane with its bottom down, the distal end of the movable member is made flush with the bottom overcoming the downward urging force by virtue of weight of the apparatus so that the air inlet and the air outlet are open; and a fan driven by a motor, which introduces air into the container from the air inlet and discharges air from the container through the air outlet so that the air passes through the container.
With the dehumidification apparatus according to the present invention, when the apparatus is tumbled or reversed, the air inlet and the air outlet are immediately closed by the closing member, so that leakage of the deliquesced liquid to the outside of the apparatus is prevented. Further, by providing the air inlet and the air outlet in the upper plate of the container, the deliquesced liquid can be accumulated to a level higher than the half point of the height of the container, the apparatus can be more compacted than the known dehumidification apparatuses described above.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4955205 (1990-09-01), Wilkinson
patent: 4982575 (1991-01-01), Besik
patent: 5251458 (1993-10-01), Tohernev
patent: 5325676 (1994-07-01), Meckler
patent: 5542259 (1996-08-01), Worek et al.
patent: 5632954 (1997-05-01), Coeliner et al.
patent: 5799728 (1998-09-01), Blume
patent: 5918475 (1999-07-01), Sakakibara et al.
patent: 5937664 (1999-08-01), Matsuno et al.
patent: 5996365 (1999-12-01), Tanaka
patent: 6209622 (2001-04-01), Lagace et al.
Ike Hidetoshi
Ishikawa Yasushi
Kakuta Kazunari
Doerrler William
Kankyo Co., Ltd.
Shulman Mark
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