Humidifier for preventing pollution of humidifying water
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional evaporative humidifiers suffer from water contamination issues due to the concentration of dissolved components and microorganisms, leading to inconvenience and neglect in cleaning, which can result in slime formation and odor.
Innovation Solution
A humidifier system with a circulating water tank, residual water tank, and automatic control mechanisms to manage water levels, filtration, sterilization, and discharge of contaminated water, ensuring clean humidification and reducing maintenance frequency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If water is continuously stored and circulated in the humidifier, then humidification efficiency is improved, but water contamination and microorganism proliferation occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts contaminated water from the circulation system by providing a drainage port that allows discharged water to be removed from the circulating water tank. This separation of clean and contaminated water pathways prevents microorganism proliferation while maintaining continuous circulation of fresh water for humidification.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements automatic discarding of contaminated water through the drainage member that discharges water from the circulating water tank when contamination reaches certain levels. Simultaneously, fresh water is recovered and supplied to replace the discharged water, maintaining system productivity without contamination.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the humidifier is frequently cleaned to prevent contamination, then water quality is improved, but user convenience deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The humidifier performs self-cleaning through automatic drainage of contaminated water via the drainage member controlled by the control unit. The system monitors water quality parameters and automatically discharges contaminated water without requiring user intervention, thereby maintaining water quality while preserving user convenience.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit monitors water quality parameters (such as conductivity, temperature, or flow rate) from the circulating water tank and provides feedback control by activating the drainage member when contamination thresholds are exceeded. This automated feedback mechanism ensures water quality maintenance without manual cleaning.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a filtration system is added to purify water, then water purity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a drainage member as an intermediary component between the circulating water tank and the external environment. This simple mechanical component enables water purification by removing contaminated water without requiring complex filtration systems, filters, or additional purification devices.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system maintains a clean internal environment by automatically purifying and sterilizing water, extending the cleaning interval and preventing contamination, thus enhancing user convenience and humidification efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a fan configured to provide wind to the humidifying member to which the water is supplied, evaporate the water supplied to the humidifying member, and discharge the water to the outside of the humidifier
Data Source
AI summary
The humidifier includes a humidifying member, a storage water tank, a circulating water tank, a residual water tank, a supply pump configured to supply water accommodated in the storage water tank to the circulating water tank, a circulating pump configured to supply water accommodated in the circulating water tank to the humidifying member. A fan configured to blow air toward the humidifying member and thereby cause water evaporated to be discharged outside the humidifier, an internal pipe configured to form a flow passage through which water not evaporated by the humidifying member is recovered to the circulating water tank, a drainage member configured to selectively discharge water accommodated in the circulating water tank to the residual water tank, and a controller configured to operate the humidifier in humidity mode based on the water level in the storage water tank.