Title of Invention

CEILING FAN WITH BUILT-IN AIR COOLER

Abstract

This invention relates to a ceiling fan with built in air cooler arrangement, consisting of a water compartment situated at the bottom of the main motor housing of the fan, with the means to supply measured quantities of water through pipes to moisturizing sub-blades, containing a fibrous porous water absorbent material, fitted to the undersides of the main fan-blades by utilizing the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the fan. The sub-blades in turn continuously transfer the water in the form of moisture, due to the passage of air through the rotating moisturizing sub-blades, into the airflow generated by the fan, the compartment being charged either continuously or periodically, either manually or by different charging mechanisms through an inlet.

Full Text

CEILING FAN WITH BUILT-IN AIR COOLER This invention relates to a ceiling fan with built-in facility for cooling of the air in the airflow created by the rotating fan blades. The present invention relates to a ceiling fan with built-in evaporative cooler type having an absorbent strip or pad in the form of a sub-blades attached to the bottom of the main fan blades. When the ceiling fan is in rotation the above mentioned sub-blades are supplied continuously with the required measured quantity of water from a compartment so that the sub-blade moisturizer strips are kept wet even as it continuously transfers water in the form of moisture to the air flow created by the rotating fan blades. The compartment for the water mentioned above is in the form of a compartmentalized chamber situated at the bottom of the central motor housing of the ceiling fan. The appropriately measured quantity of water is conducted to the sub-blades from the above said compartment by means of specially shaped metal capillary tubes inside the compartment housing which protrude outside the compartment housing and which are in turn connected by semi-flexible capillary tubing to the inlet means of the above mentioned moisturizer sub-blades. This measured supply to the sub-blades, which are situated at a higher plane than the compartment is achieved by and controlled by appropriately utilizing the centrifugal forces in a rotating ceiling fan. The supply of measured water to the sub-blades occurring only when the fan is under rotation, thus preventing any possibility of water dripping from the moisturizer sub-blades. The compartment will be of an appropriate capacity and may be recharged either periodically, either manually through the water inlet means situated at the bottom center of the said compartment or the compartment may be connected through a "Rotary Union" at the water inlet means by rigid and flexible tubing from a water source of a larger capacity kept at ground level to form a continuous replenishing supply of measured water to the compartment. The capacity of the compartment is to be decided keeping in mind the necessity to prevent over-loading of the standard motor used in a ceiling fan by the added weight of water etc., as well as the resistance added by the introduction of moisturizer sub-blades . In a preferred embodiment of the ceiling fan with built-in air cooler, the main blades will have mounting strips permanently fitted on them, which will be used for mounting of the moisturizer sub-blades which will allow for removal and cleaning of the sub-blades after long use or for easy replacement with new sub-blades if so desired, this is keeping in mind that evaporative moisturizer pads can get clogged with dust and water based impurities after long usage. The sub-blades being of small cross section when mass-produced using appropriate material will be available at insignificant cost. Again keeping in mind that the only further addition when compared with a standard ceiling fan is the water compartment which is in the form of a small specially designed compartmentalized chamber forming the extended bottom part of the standard motor housing of a ceiling fan, thus it could increase the cost by only a small percentage. This invention seeks to serve its main object of providing people living in hot and dry climate with a ceiling fan which is simple, cost effective and efficient, which not only circulates air but also cools it by adding moisture there by contributing to a more pleasant internal environment. Background and Prior Art: Air coolers with evaporative cooling is a well known means of cooling air inside rooms both in houses and in offices. Evaporative cooling basically adds water in the form of moisture to the Air being circulated by a fan , thus cooling the air in other words by humidification of dry air. Air coolers presently known in the art are mostly stand alone units consisting of a main housing within which is provided a container for water, A large layer of water absorbent material in the form of stationary pad covering the openings of the main housing with water in the container being pumped and circulated Over the absorbent material to keep it wet all the time, a built-in fan inside the main housing sucks in air through one side opening and forces it through the other side opening both having the above mentioned wet pads thus cooling the air being circulated. Another type of air coolers widely in use presently is similar to the above but instead of the water being continuously circulated over the pads, the pad itself in the form wide belt is kept rotating with a portion of the rotating belt always kept immersed inside the water contained in the water container. As in the first mentioned case air is forced by a fan situated in the main housing through the wet pad which is in the form of belt as explained above. Ceiling fans have been in wide use for long time and serve the purpose of circulating air inside rooms of houses, offices and other business establishments during warm climate. The circulating air obviously makes the internal environment more tolerable. But once the ambient temperature goes still higher the ceiling fan as it circulates the air, which already is hot, will become totally ineffective and to have a tolerable internal environment the minimum requirement will be an Air-cooler as mentioned above. Ceiling fans are in wide use as they are simple and trouble free device and cost a fraction of the cost of air coolers and unlike air coolers hardly occupy any usable space as they hang from the ceiling and there is no need to put them away when not in use most months of the year. Ceiling fans are able to serve its purpose of circulating air and providing a tolerable environment in most parts of the world with a warm climate which occurs only during certain months of the year, Even during these months most part of the day or night can be managed by the use of fan alone. There will always be days or part of days when a ceiling fan will not make life tolerable and an Air-cooler will become absolutely essential. Keeping in mind the ceiling fan needs to perform as a air-cooler only during a portion of the time the fan is in actual use, which again will be in use only during certain parts of a day and during certain months of the year etc. One of the main objective of this invention is that the ceiling fan with built-in Air-cooler will take care of all the above requirements and situations with a fractional increase in the actual cost of a normal ceiling fan by incorporating minimum materials and modifications with minimum effort of operation thus making it a sound economic proposition for the society as well as an individual. Coming to the prior art ceiling fans have been in wide use allover the world and there are several patents connected with ceiling fans in general and many with ceiling fan blades in particular, examples are patent No. US 6053710 dealing with better design for blades, patent No. US 5775876 (1998) dealing with a fan blade mounted air freshener. Patent No. US 4422824 (1983) dealing with a fan blade having a box type construction with a germicidal lamp inside to kill bacteria in the air etc which are all far removed from the present invention. There is one patent No. IN 147946 (1980) which seems to attempt to cool the air Supplied by the ceiling fan blade, . on studying the mentioned patent it will be clear that the proposed device is additional device to be used along with a ceiling fan and is a very complicated and costly approach to solving the problem of cooling the air supplied by the ceiling fan blade, basically the device mentioned in the said invention even though attached to the down rod of a ceiling fan constitutes an apparatus ( when compared to a normial ceiling fan ) which is of large proportion in size, weight, cost and complication in manufacture, in installation and maintenance. In other words when this apparatus is used in combination with a ceiling fan, it will appear that the ceiling fan will form the minor portion of this arrangement. Now keeping this background in mind the ultimate ideal solution will be to have a Ceiling fan which can when necessary could also be used as an Air-cooler with some minor effort of charging the same with water with a hand-pump means and for a couple of hours it will perform like an air-cooler and when the water is exhausted it reverts back to being a normal ceiling fan. The charging process could be repeated when ever necessary for it to perform as an air cooler for longer duration etc., other method for long duration of air cooler operation without interruption is by means of 'Rotary Union" at the inlet of the compartment with piping to take water from a larger storage at ground level. The present invention approaches the problem of cooling the air by very simple and cost effective way of creating a built-in air cooler arrangement in the standard ceiling fan itself. DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION This invention relates to a ceiling fan with built in air cooler arrangement, consisting of a water compartment situated at the bottom of the main motor housing of the fan, with the means to supply measured quantities of water through pipes to moisturizing sub-blades, containing a fibrous porous water absorbent material, fitted to the undersides of the main fan-blades by utilizing the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the fan. The sub-blades in turn continuously transfer the water, in the form of moisture, due to the passage of air through the rotating moisturizing sub-blades, into the airflow generated by the fan, the compartment being charged either continuously or periodically, either manually or by different charging mechanisms through an inlet. This invention also provide for a ceiling fan with a built-in air cooler arrangement as substantially herein described and as illustrated in the accompanying drawing. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS : Figure 1 : Shows the normal picture of a Ceiling fan with Built-in Air cooler, numeral 17 indicating the ceiling, 18 is the down rod, 19 is the fan motor housing, 20 is the main fan blades, 21 is the moisturizer sub-blade, 22 is v/ater inlet means of the compartment 23,the pipe conducting water from the compartment to the moisturizer sub-blades is 21. Figure 2 : Shows the isometric view of a single main fan blade 20 of a ceiling fan with Built-in air cooler with certain portions cut out to clearly show the m.ounting of moisturizer sub-blade 21, FIGURE 3 ; Shows a cross-sectional view of the main fan blade 20 with the moisturizer sub-blade 21 mounted on it, it also shows in a representative form dry air 25 entering the sub-blade 21 and moist air 26 leaving the same and being forced down and circulated by the curvature of the main fan blade20 while the fan is in rotation. Figure 4 : Shows a closer view of the Ceiling fan with built-in Air cooler with focus on the motor housing 19, and showing only small portions of, down rod 18, main fan blade 20,moisturizer sub-blade 21, a representative picture of semi-flexible water conducting pipe 24 is also shown. Figure 5 : Shows the cross section of the water compartment 23 which will be attached to the bottom of the motor housing of the fan by suitable means, the compartment is • of compartmentalized construction of thin metal sheet of appropriate quality having an outer wall 39, an inner wall 38,top partition formed by top cover plate 27,water entry into the compartment is in the direction 35, through the passage34 provided in the assembly bolt cum water inlet means 36, nut 37 is provided for assembly. Two separate compartments or chambers are shown one larger water compartment enclosed by the inner wall 38 and top cover plate 27, the other narrower and smaller water compartment enclosed by the outer wall 39 and inner wall 38 as well as by small peripheral portion of the top cover plate 27.water entering the compartment through the passage 34 mentioned above will only enter the larger inner compartment and get mainly stored in it, this water can enter the smaller narrower outer compartment in the direction 34 through an opening provided on the inner wall which is controlled by a manually adjustable throttling screw 33, when the fan is under rotation the water in the narrow chamber mentioned above rises in the direction 31 due to the centrifugal forces in a rotating fan, situated at the top portion of the above mentioned narrow outer compartment are appropriate number of specially shaped and fixed pipes 40, with their one end having opening into this compartment, the other end of pipes 40 protrude outside the compartment, which are in turn meant to be connected by semi-flexible water conducting pipes 24, to the moisturizer sub-blades 21. When the fan is in rotation water in the narrow outer chamber rises in the direction 31, enters the pipes 40 and tries to flow in the direction 30, this flow is opposed by the centrifugal forces in the direction 28,allowing only very small droplets of water to proceed out of the other end of tube 40, in the direction 29,from where these droplets are carried to the moisturizer sub-blades 21 through piping 24. once the droplets reach the sub-blades it spreads in the moisturizer pads and allows them to be carried away in the form of moisture mixing with dry air entering the sub-blades 21 through the windows 44 provided on them. The water lost from the outer narrow compartment is replenished by water entering this compartment from the larger inner compartment of the compartment through the opening controlled by throttling screw 33.the inner larger compartment is also provided with a air breather pipe 41, which has one end situated in the central upper portion of the inner larger compartment and the other protruding outside the compartment housing and provided with a air breather set-screw 43, located in a bracket 42 which in turn is fixed to the compartment housing, the set-screw 43 can as and when required control the air supply or completely block it by interacting with the hole on the breather pipe 41. the inside end of water passage 34 and inside end of air breather pipe 41 are strategically placed in the central top portion Of the of the larger water compartment to avoid water out flow through them. Figure 6 : shows a portion of the Ceiling fan with Built-in Air cooler with focus on a moisturizer sub-blade 21, mounted on the main blade 20, and the connection from the compartment 23, to the sub-blade 21, through semi-flexible pipe 24. Figure 7 : shows an enlarged view of the portion marked 'z" in Figure-6, the main fan blade 20, the moisturizer sub-blade 21, and the windows 44 provided on sub blades are clearly shown. Figure 8 : shows the cross sectional view of main blade 20, with moisturizer sub-blade mounting strip 45, fitted on the main blade 20. Figure 9 : shows the cross sectional view of the main blade 20,with moisturizer sub-blade 21,mounted by means of the mounting strip 45. it also shows in a representative manner dry air 46, entering the sub-blade 21, and moist air 47, leaving the sub-blade when the fan is in rotation, It also shows the water absorbent porous / fibrous material 48, inside the moisturizer sub-blade 21. Figure 10 : shows a moisturizer sub blade 21 Figure 11 : shows the water inlet cover plate 4 9 of the moisturizer sub-blade and the water entry port 50, provided on the cover plate 49. Figure 12 : shows an enlarged portion of the moisturizer sub-blade 21, with air inlet windows 44, and the water absorbent porous / fibrous material 48, contained inside the moisturizer sub-blade 21. Figure 13 : shows the ceiling, side wall and the floor of a room in which a Ceiling fan with built-in Air cooler is -installed, and which is in the process of being charged with water by a person using hand pump means 52, through the rigid vertical pipe 51, and through the inlet means 22 of the said fan, the hand pump 52, is carrying a water container 53, of appropriate size. The figure also shows in a representative manner how a continues charging of the compartment of the fan can me maintained from a ground level larger water source by means of a rotary union 54, along with a rigid horizontal pipeline fixed to the adjacent wall, and through flexible pipeline leading to the larger water source kept at ground level. It may be possible to create direct suction of water from the ground level water source into the compartment 23, of the fan by blocking out the breather pipe of the compartment using the set screw provided and as explained in Figure -5 described above earlier. Figure 14 : Shows the inlet valve 22, Rotary union 54 and Rigid horizontal pipeline 55 mentioned in figure 13 description above. Figure 15 : Shows main motor housing with compartment 23 fitted at the bottom. This figure is mainly to show the position of Condenser 56 (which is a normal part of any standard ceiling fan), The small water pump 59 which is to be fixed to the stationary Main down-rod 61 of the fan. A roller arrangement 60 is shown fixed on to the top surface of the rotating motor housing. For every rotation of the housing (when the fan is in rotation) the roller arrangement will actuate the pump once causing a very small quantity of water (a few Drops) to be sucked through the suction pipe 65 and to be pumped into the compartment 23 by means of the outlet pipe 58 of the pump 59.The method by which water from the outlet pipe 58 is conducted to the compartment 23 is better explained in figure 17. The hood covering the above mentioned parts 56 & 59 is shown as 57. Figure 16 : Shows a modified cross-section for the moisturizer sub-blade 21 and the water absorbent / fibrous material 48 inside the sub-blade 21. Figure 17 : Shows stainless steel water conducting pipe 62 which is embedded into a slot in the central main down rod 61 of the fan. The bottom end of the pipe 62 is shown as 63 and this enters into a hole provided at the top cover of the v/ater compartment 23 when the compartment is in assembled condition. In this figure the compartment 23 is shown as detached from the main motor housing of the fan. Part 65 is the water conducting suction pipe. Part 59 is the water pump, part 60 is the roller arrangement. Embedding of the pipe 62 within the diameter of the main down rod 61 is for it not to cause any obstruction for necessary bearing assembly etc. The providing of a separate embedded pipe instead of a Passage drilled into the down rod is with the intention of keeping the water safely away from the necessary electrical supply to the fan. Part 63 is a water tight sealing at the pipe end 63. Figure 18: shows the detached water compartment. Figures 19,20,21,22 & 23 : Shows the various views of cylindrical diaphragm type pump arrangement. Part 66 is the tubular diaphragm which gets progressively sgueezed in one direction as the profiled disc 68 indexes for every rotation of the main fan motor due to the roller arrangement 60 pr ovided. This will cause a small amount of water to be pumped out of the pump and simultaneously causing suction in the suction pipe 65 as well as sealing in the diaphragm itself to prevent the back flow of water due to gravity. The pressure of this sealing is controlled by the adjusting screw 67. the hole 69 is for fixing the pump at the appropriate height on the main down rod 61. Figure 24: Shows a part of a room, showing the floor, wall and the roof. A ceiling fan with built-in air-cooler arrangement is shown fitted to the ceiling of the room. At the floor level a container full of water 74 is shown. Part 65 is the water conducting suction pipe connected to the inlet of the water pump 59 explained in the earlier figures. The suction pipe as it need to carry a very small quantity of water only, will in the form of a capillary tube built into an adhesive plastic strip (magnified view of the cross-section of this strip is shown as 71) The suction pipe 65 being made as a adhesive strip will help in running this pipe from ground level along the wall as well as the roof to the base of the fan and then to the water inlet of the pump 59 with relative ease of installation. Part 72 is an electric pump which could be used as a substitute (to pump water from the ground level container to the compartment situated on the fan) for the pump 59 mentioned in the earlier figures. Part 73 shows the power socket which could be used at ground level into which the electric pump 72 could be plugged-in. The electric Pump 72 is shown with small portion of its suction and outlet pipes in a representative manner. STATEMENT OF INVENTION This invention provides for A ceiling fan with built in air cooler arrangement, consisting of a water compartment situated at the bottom of the main motor housing of the fan, with means to supply measured quantities of water to moisturizing sub-blades, containing a fibrous porous water absorbent material, fitted to the undersides of the main fan-blades through pipes that would continuously transfer the water, in the form of moisture, by utilizing the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the fan, wherein the supplied moisture cools the airflow generated by the fan, the water compartment having means that would replenish the water compartment. I CLAIM: l.A ceiling fan with built in air cooler arrangement, consisting of a water compartment situated at the bottom of the main motor housing of the fan, with means to supply measured quantities of water to moisturizing sub-blades containing a fibrous, porous, water absorbent material, fitted to the undersides of the main fan-blades through pipes that would continuously transfer the water, in the form of moisture, by utilizing the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the fan, wherein the supplied moisture cools the airflow generated by the fan, the water compartment having means that would replenish the water compartment. 2. A ceiling fan with built in air cooler arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the water compartment is, situated under the main motor housing of the fan, the said water compartment having means for recharging the compartment, and multiple outlets on the sides of the compartment that are attached to the sub-blades through a set of capillary tubes that will carry water to the sub-blades utilizing the centrifugal force generated by the spinning motion of the fan. 3.A ceiling fan with built in air cooler arrangement as claimed in claim ■ 1, wherein a mechanism for manually recharging the water compartment, is provided by connecting a hand pump to an inlet valve placed at the bottom of the water compartment. 4.A ceiling fan with built in air cooler arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein a mechanism for recharging the water compartment, is provided by connecting a water source by means of a pipe to a stainless steel water conducting pipe which is embedded into a slot in the main down rod of the fan, which is in turn connected to a tubular diaphragm type pump that is powered by the rotation of the fan that would ensure supply of water to the moisturizing sub-blades. 5.A ceiling fan with built in air cooler arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the moisturizing sub-blades is, having several windows for passage of air through it and containing fibrous, porous water absorbent material, the moisturizing sub-blades being attached to the underside of the fan blades and connected to the water compartment by pipes that would supply water to the moisturizing sub-blades. 6. A ceiling fan with built in air cooler arrangement as substantially herein described, and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

0299-mas-2002 abstract-duplicate.pdf

0299-mas-2002 abstract.pdf

0299-mas-2002 claims-duplicate.pdf

0299-mas-2002 claims.pdf

0299-mas-2002 correspondence-others.pdf

0299-mas-2002 correspondence-po.pdf

0299-mas-2002 description (complete)-duplicate.pdf

0299-mas-2002 description (complete).pdf

0299-mas-2002 drawings-duplicate.pdf

0299-mas-2002 drawings.pdf

0299-mas-2002 form-1.pdf

0299-mas-2002 form-19.pdf

0299-mas-2002 form-26.pdf

0299-mas-2002 form-3.pdf

0299-mas-2002 form-5.pdf