Liquid heaters and vaporizers – Film
Patent
1997-05-27
1999-02-16
Capossela, Ronald
Liquid heaters and vaporizers
Film
4559, 4605, 239524, 261108, F22B 2700
Patent
active
058709754
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a steam generating apparatus particularly adapted to satisfy the needs of body care by a steam bath.
The device according to the invention is particularly adapted for shower rooms, baths, showers and apparatus for hydrotherapy, for body care and for firming.
The production of steam is conventionally effected with the aid of a steam generator (boiler) operating by electricity supplying for example a heating resistance, such as for example described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,616,122 (BURIAN et al.).
The use of electrical energy in the environment of a shower stall disposed in a bathroom poses problems to guarantee the user against any risk of electrocution or electric shock, and moreover gives rise to high costs because of the complexity of such a generator.
The device according to the invention permits overcoming this drawback by using directly and solely hot water under pressure produced for example by way of a water heater such as those installed in homes.
U.S. Pat. 5,215,043 (TSUTSUMI) discloses a steam generator for steam baths, which produces steam from hot water.
This generator comprises a shell or principal closed part, which is provided with a supply opening for hot water, an air inlet opening, a hot water outlet opening, and an opening for the outlet of a mixture of air and steam.
The production of steam is carried out by contacting air with hot water within the shell.
This document describes several devices permitting placing air and hot water into contact, namely: superposed oblique plates, finned tubes, or a three-dimensional structure, over which the hot water streams; two other embodiments described in this document use a vaporizing nozzle disposed respectively in the lower part and in the upper part of the shell.
The object of the invention is to provide an improved steam generator.
Thus, the generator described in the TSUTSUMI document has several drawbacks: first of all, it appears that a fan (which, if it must be connected to an electrical energy source, has the same drawback as that mentioned above) will be necessary to accelerate the circulation of air; another very great drawback is the great size of the apparatus described; a third drawback consists in that the mixture of air and steam produced is delivered to the outlet of the apparatus at a temperature very much lower than that of the hot water supplying the apparatus; another drawback flowing from the latter is that this application must be supplied with hot water at high temperature, about 70.degree. to 80.degree. centigrade.
The solution to the problem posed consists in providing an apparatus producing a mixture of air and steam from an inlet of hot water under pressure constituted by a housing provided with an atomizing nozzle connected by a conduit to a hot water inlet, a water evacuation outlet, an air inlet, disposed at the level of said nozzle, and an outlet opening for steam and in which the arrangement of the walls of the housing defines an atomizing chamber of which a large part is occupied by the hot water jet atomized by the nozzle, at least one of said walls, disposed adjacent said nozzle, intercepting a substantial portion of said jet to promote the creation of mist of hot water.
Preferably this steam generating apparatus comprises, within a housing: air, openings, supplied with hot water, which produce one or several jets, preferably volumetric or three-dimensional, by opposition particularly to flat jets or so-called "solid" jets or full or rectilinear, of small droplets whose distribution is preferably substantially uniform within the jet, which nozzle delivers preferably a jet called a full cone, flat, disposed adjacent (at a small distance) from the nozzle, to intercept a substantial portion of the jet.
The volume (for example the cone) occupied by the jet represents (occupies) a large part (or portion) of the volume of the atomizing and mixing chamber, and the inlet and outlet openings for air and steam of the chamber are large, which is to say have a cross section of the same order of s
REFERENCES:
patent: 2505170 (1950-04-01), Burnstein et al.
patent: 4616122 (1986-10-01), Burian et al.
patent: 5215043 (1993-06-01), Tsutsumi
patent: 5333573 (1994-08-01), Tsutsumi
patent: 5392738 (1995-02-01), Tsutsumi
LandOfFree
Steam generating apparatus does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Steam generating apparatus, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Steam generating apparatus will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2055366