Drying and gas or vapor contact with solids – Apparatus – With waste gas heat and/or power conservers
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-21
2001-02-20
Gravini, Stephen (Department: 3749)
Drying and gas or vapor contact with solids
Apparatus
With waste gas heat and/or power conservers
C034S235000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06189228
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention pertains to an apparatus that is intended to deal with waste energy heat loss that is typical with the use of ordinary household clothing dryers. A typical household clothing dryer heats air within a rotating compartment or drum, where moisture-laden clothing or similar materials are allowed to contact heated air that has been heated within the dryer. Since the heated air has an increased moisture carrying capacity, as compared to cooler air, moisture from the clothing will evaporate out of the clothing and be carried along within the heated air flow. The heated air is typically vented directly from a back side vent through a dryer vent hose, where the moisture-laden air is discharged through a port in the building wall that allows the air to be vented directly into the outside air.
During conditions where the outside air is extremely cold, wasted heat energy while using the clothing dryer is even more pronounced. This is due to the fact that heated air is discharged outside the dwelling, causing the energy to be lost from the dwelling, but the dryer must also concurrently draw in air from inside the dwelling, to replace the vented heated air. When air is drawn into the dryer, and then eventually vented outside the dwelling, the air which is vented outside must be replaced by air from within the dwelling. As air is removed from the dwelling into the dryer unit, external air must replace said dwelling air. If the replacement air comprises outside cold air, as would typically be the case, the clothing dryer is not only wasting heat energy it produces by venting it outside, but it is also removing warm air from within the dwelling.
Prior art has attempted to overcome the heat loss associated with clothing dryers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,207 (Merrigan) is a recent example. This device provides a cabinet for the collecting of air that has been heated by the dryer. A single vent is used as a means to direct the air heated by the dryer back into the house or dwelling. A second outlet is provided as a means to divert the heated air outside the dwelling.
One of the drawbacks with the prior art is that no means is provided to capture lint and other associated fabric particles that are generally present in air being discharged from clothing dryers. While most dryers have some type of a lint capturing device, such devices are generally not completely efficient. Utilization of the prior art, without the inclusion of the advantages shown in this invention, can result in a returned of heated air back into the dwelling, along with a great deal of undesired lint and dust particles.
Another drawback with the prior art is that there is no means to specifically direct the flow of air heated by the dryer to either the dwelling interior or to the outside. Prior art relies on an increased air pressure, coupled with various vent openings supplied, to direct the air out from a single volume staging area within a cabinet. Unless the discharge vent that directs air into the house or dwelling is completely airtight, heated air will return back into dwelling even at undesired times. Because dryers may have the tendency to over heat if their discharge air pathway is restricted, there should be provided an unobstructed passage to both vent the heated air back into the dwelling as well as a vent to discharge heated air directly outside dwelling.
A further drawback to the prior art is that the cabinet used in the Merrigan patent will acquire significant heat energy, which will then be able to be transferred to the adjacent air within the dwelling. While this may be a desired benefit during cold weather, this heat transfer is undesirable during hot summer months when the owner may be attempting to cool the dwelling interior air through air conditioning.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention utilizes a dryer support that is placed underneath a typical clothing dryer. This dryer support is not intended to provide any type of airtight cabinet, but is provided so as to allow the unobstructed placement of various vent hoses and a valve beneath the dryer. The vent hoses are those typically used with clothing dryers, having a diameter of at least several inches. Since these hoses are typically unable to resist very much external crushing pressure, they must be protected from the weight of the dryer, and housed within the support.
The dryer support should be provided with an open back side, to allow vent hoses to be inserted into the interior space defined by the dryer support. It is also advantageous for a portion of the top side area of the dryer support to be either removed or removable, so as to provide complete access to the space defined by the interior of the dryer support.
Located on the front side of the dryer support is an interior discharge opening, which defines a passageway from the support interior back into the dwelling room. This opening may be of any size or shape, but should define an opening that has approximately the same cross-sectional area as that of the dryer vent hose.
A valve assembly is provided within the interior space of the dryer support. This valve assembly defines three openings, that are each accessible to the other openings. This valve assembly has a means by which a dryer vent hose may be attached so that air moving through the dryer vent hose enters freely into the valve assembly. Once this air moves into the valve assembly, it is directed either through the valve assembly into an exterior vent hose, or is diverted through the use of a valve flap, so that the air passes through the interior discharge opening back into the dwelling room. The valve flap therefore covers either one of the openings within the valve assembly, be the interior discharge opening, or opening leading to the exterior vent hose.
When air, that has been heated by a clothing dryer, is intended to be directly vented to the outside of the dwelling, the valve flap is placed over the interior discharge opening, so that any air moving through the dryer vent hose into the valve assembly will vent directly through the exterior vent hose to the outside air. The support itself is not appreciably heated during this process.
When air, that has been heated by a clothing dryer, is intended to be vented into the dwelling, so as to recapture that heat energy it contains, the valve flap is moved so that it covers the exterior vent hose port, so that heated air moving through the dryer vent hose, into the valve assembly, will be diverted so that flows through the interior discharge opening in the front of the dryer support, back into the dwelling. As the interior discharge opening is located directly below the clothing dryer, this allows the heated moist air to be vented directly into the dwelling interior, with the heated air stream being propelled several feet out into the dwelling room. The moist air provides the added benefit of humidifying the interior air, since the present air has typically been heated in a furnace which altered the humidity level. P Heated air, that is exiting a clothing dryer, will typically have lint particles being transported along with the air flow. These lint particles will be those that have escaped through any previous lint filtration means. While the amount of lint does not comprise a sizable volume, it is still generally undesired to have this air flow being directly vented into a home or occupied dwellings, as these particles will provide irritation to nasal passages when breathed, or cause dust-like deposits on household surfaces.
A removable filter is provided, which covers the interior discharge opening in the front of the dryer support, where said filter has a means to trap a majority of the lint particles in the venting air stream. Since particulate matter can quickly cause a filtration means to inhibit air flow, the screen is removable, so that it can be cleaned of particulate matter when necessary.
In the event that the removable filter becomes highly impacted with lint material, so that the air flow through the removable filter is unduly restri
Gravini Stephen
Sylvester Bradley P.
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