Electric resistance heating devices – Heating devices – Vaporizer
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-12
2001-07-03
Walberg, Teresa (Department: 3742)
Electric resistance heating devices
Heating devices
Vaporizer
C600S022000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06256454
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
The present invention relates to an infant warming apparatus and, more particularly, to a humidifier for adding moisture to the environment within the infant care apparatus.
There are, of course, many differing types of infant incubators currently available and most have some means of humidifying the air that is delivered to the infant compartment within the incubator. The infant compartment itself is a controlled environment within which the infant is positioned and where the environment is controlled to provide warmth and humidity to the infant for its wellbeing.
Typical of such humidifiers is the use of a reservoir that underlies the infant compartment and where the heated air to be delivered to that compartment passes over the water contained within the reservoir to increase the humidity, at a controlled rate, of the heated air that is then passed into the infant compartment. Thus, one of the common means of humidification for an infant incubator includes a means of causing the heated air to pass over a body of water, generally heated, where the warm air picks up water vapor and delivers the warm air laden with the water vapor to the infant compartment. One such humidification system is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,190 of Gloyd et al.
As a drawback of many present systems for humidification, the reservoirs are generally difficult to remove for cleaning and, additionally, some of the reservoirs normally slide horizontally from the humidifier in order to allow filling. The movement of the reservoir filed with water is somewhat difficult in the infant care environment and can cause the spilling of water. The water is also commonly spilled simply due to overfilling of the reservoir. The presence of spilled water is undesirable in that it can be a ground for contamination in the otherwise warm, damp surroundings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention relates to an infant incubator having a novel humidification system that injects the heated water vapor into the infant compartment of the incubator rather than pass the heated air over a body of water. In addition, the present invention includes a reservoir container that is affixed to the infant incubator in such a manner that it can be opened by simply tilting the reservoir with respect to the humidifier housing and the infant incubator and the filling can take place easily in the tilted position. Thus, when the reservoir is again returned to its upright condition, overfilling is avoided as the water level will be safely contained within the reservoir in its upright position.
Thus, when filled in its tilted position, the reservoir can be fully filled and yet the reservoir will not spill or be overfilled when the reservoir is returned to its upright operational position. The reservoir can be easily moved between its upright utile position and its tilted, filling position by the user.
Too, the water reservoir of the present invention is easily removable from the incubator by the user when it is desired to clean the reservoir. A heater extends downwardly into the reservoir to selectively heat a limited amount of water in the reservoir to provide rapid and controlled heating of the water and to inject the heated water vapor into the infant compartment. As a further feature, when the water reservoir is removed, its movement is controlled such that it is removable along a path that prevents the reservoir from breaking or bending the heater that extends downwardly into that reservoir.
In carrying out the present invention, there is a plastic reservoir container that is transparent to the extent that the level of water can be visually perceived from external of the reservoir and the incubator. In its upright position delivering heated water vapor to the incubator, the reservoir is normally locked in position by a forward, upward edge of the reservoir that is in abutment with a outward lip of the housing. That reservoir is affixed to the humidifier housing by means of a pair of resilient latches that are biased upwardly but can, by the user, be pushed downwardly to disengage the forward edge of the reservoir from the outward lip of the housing to free the reservoir from its position mounted to the housing of the humidifier. The reservoir is designed so as to allow the reservoir to be tilted outwardly a controlled or predetermined movement for filling the reservoir with water yet the reservoir is still securely retained to the housing of the humidifier. The tilting of the reservoir is also constrained to a predetermined angular movement and is held in the tilted position for adding water to the reservoir. In the preferred embodiment, the reservoir is held in the tilted position by means of an abrupt shoulder formed on the reservoir that also comes into engagement with the outward lip of the housing to enable the reservoir to be easily and safely tilted to the filling position.
The interaction of specially designed flanges on the reservoir and the housing of the humidifier also allows the resilient latch to be maneuvered and released to allow the reservoir to be completely removed from the humidifier housing for cleaning. As such, those interacting flanges require that the reservoir be removed by dropping it straight downwardly and not twisted in its removal process so as to prevent the breaking of the heater that depends downwardly into the reservoir from the humidifier housing to heat the water in a localized area.
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Datex - Ohmeda, Inc.
Fastovsky Leonid
Rathbun Roger M.
Walberg Teresa
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