DE20103253U1 - Evaporator unit for a sauna or steam bath cabin and filling vessel - Google Patents

Description

GRÜNECKER KINKELD&Y«SjföcikMAJR &:S(|HWANHÄUSSER

LAW FIRM

GKS & S MAXIMILIANSTRASSE 58 D-80538 MUNICH GERMANY

YOUR REF.

LAWYERS PATENT ATTORNEYS PATENT ATTORNEYS LAWYERS EUROPEAN PATENT ATTORNEYS EUROPEAN PATENT ATTORNEYS MUNICH MUNICH COLOGNE DR. HELMUT EICHMANN DR. HERMANN KINKELDEY DR. MARTIN DROPMANN GERHARD BARTH PETER H. JAKOB DR. ULRICH BLUMENRÖDER, LLM. WOLFHARD MEISTER CHEMNITZ CHRISTA NIKLAS-FALTER HANS HILGERS MANFRED SCHNEIDER DR. MAXIMILIAN KINKELDEY, LLM. DR. HENNING MEYER-PLATH SONJA SCHAEFFLER ANNELIE EHNOLD BERLIN DR. KARSTEN BRANDT THOMAS SCHUSTER DIETER JANDER ANJA FRANKE, ILL. M. DR. KLARA GOLDBACH UTE STEPHANI MARTIN AUFENANGER DR. BERND ALLEKOTTE, LLM. GOTTFRIED KUTZSCH DR. ELVIRAPFRANG, LLM. DR. HEIKE VOGELSANG-WENKE OF COUNSEL REINHARD KNAUER PATENT ATTORNEYS DIETMAR KUHL DR. FRANZ-JOSEF ZIMMER AUGUST GRÜNEECKER BETTINA K. REICHELT DR. GUNTER BEZOLD DR. ANTON K. PFAU DR. WALTER LANGHOFF DR. UDO WEIGELT RAINER BERTRAM JENS KOCH, M.S. (U of PA) M.S. BERND ROTHAEMEL DR. WILFRIED STOCKMAIR DR. DANIELA KINKELDEY 1-19961 DR. THOMAS W. LAUBENTHAL EN / OUR REF. DATE

G4516-001/mmb 23.02.01

New German utility model application "Evaporator unit for a sauna or steam bath cabin and filling vessel"

KLAFS SAUNABAU GMBH & CO MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

PO BOX 10 03 44

GRÜNEECKER KINKELDEY

STOCKMAIR & SCHWANHAUSSEFi". J···

MAXIMILIANSTR. 58 ', ti**

0-80538 MUNICH !..* '.,..

GERMANY

TEL.

+49 89 2123 50

. .PAXtgp 3) +<4* _# 8&iacgr;·22 02 81 . .* IF/JX (GJ? 4) J-49J89 2} 86*92(£

&bull;bft/;43 ^d * l DEUTSCHE BANK MUNICH No. 17 51734
¹ ^LZ 700 700 10
5/VIFT: GERMAN DE MM

e-mail: postmaster@grunecker.de

23 ny.f

Evaporator unit for a sauna or steam bath cabin and filling vessel

The invention relates to an evaporator unit for a sauna or steam bath cabin, with a portable filling vessel and a stationary evaporator vessel with a drain tap near the floor for draining the residual water from the evaporator.

Such evaporator units are known from practice in many cases. These are often retrofittable sets for existing sauna cabins that allow a steam bath to be operated in the sauna cabin. The sauna cabin is operated at a lower temperature than in a Finnish sauna but with increased humidity.

To create this increased humidity, water must be constantly evaporated. This water is usually poured into the evaporated vessel using a measuring cup before the bathing operation begins.

After bathing, the remaining water must be removed from the evaporator to prevent the formation of limescale deposits. This is done via a drain tap, which is usually located just slightly above the floor of the sauna cabin. This usually requires a different container than the one used to fill the evaporator; a flat bowl is usually used for this. The volume of such a flat bowl is often not enough to hold all the water in the evaporator, which can lead to minor flooding.

The invention is therefore based on the object of improving an evaporator unit as described above in such a way that the filling and emptying of the evaporator vessel is simplified.

This object is achieved according to the invention in that, on the one hand, the volume of the filling vessel is adapted to the filling volume of the evaporator vessel and, on the other hand, the height of the

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Filling opening of the filling vessel is adapted to the distance between the base and the drain tap of the evaporator vessel. These simple measures mean that measuring the amount of water to be filled into the evaporator vessel is no longer necessary. The filling vessel is filled once and emptied into the evaporator vessel. This completes the filling process without the evaporator vessel being overfilled. This feature and the feature that the height of the filling vessel is adapted to the distance between the base and the drain tap enables the filling vessel to be used twice, namely as a drain vessel. This measure means that the filling vessel with its filling opening also fits under the drain tap, and the design of the volume also ensures that all residual water from the evaporator vessel can be absorbed by the filling vessel.

The handling of the evaporator unit is made considerably easier by these measures according to the invention.

In its specific design, the filling vessel consists of a cuboid-shaped base body with a spout attached to the short narrow side or front side. The cuboid is basically closed all around and only has an opening towards the narrow front side, to which the spout is attached. According to a particularly preferred embodiment, an end wall is provided at this point, which ends at a distance from the bottom, namely the broad side of the cuboid, and forms a strip-like passage, similar to a weir. A vent hole is provided in the upper area of the end wall. This design has the advantage that when the filling vessel is emptied, i.e. when the evaporator vessel is filled, the water cannot enter the spout in a gush, but in a controlled volume flow. This volume flow can be determined depending on the height of the strip-shaped passage. It has proven advantageous if the height of the passage is about 1/5 of the height of the end wall. In practice, the height of the passage is usually 10 mm.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, pivot bearings for a pivoting handle are provided on the opposite long narrow sides. This handle can be moved from a first pivoting position in which it extends over the upper wide

side of the cuboid-shaped base body, can be swiveled into a second swivel position in which it extends in the lengthwise direction of the narrow long sides of the cuboid and surrounds the spout. This allows the filling vessel to be carried in a 90° or tilted position in which the spout points upwards. Carrying the filling vessel is particularly comfortable here because, unlike a cylindrical bucket, the filling vessel does not have to be carried at a distance from the &Kgr;&ogr;&phgr;&bgr;&Ggr;, but can be carried close to the body, similar to a briefcase.

Further advantageous designs are the subject of the subclaims.

In the following, an embodiment of the invention is explained in more detail with reference to a drawing. They show:

Fig. 1 shows an evaporator unit according to the invention with an evaporator vessel and a filling vessel;

Fig. 2 the filling vessel in a perspective view;

Fig. 3 the filling vessel in a side view;

Fig. 4 the filling vessel in a sectional view along the line IV/IV in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 the filling vessel in a sectional view along the line VA/ in Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 the filling vessel in an upright position rotated by 90°/and

Fig. 7 shows the filling vessel in a sectional view along the line XII-XII of Fig. 5.

Figure 1 shows a sauna heater with an integrated evaporator vessel 1. The evaporator vessel is shown here only schematically in dashed lines. The evaporator vessel has a filling opening 2 and is also connected to a drain tap 4 via a drain line 3. The distance of the drain tap 4 to the floor of the sauna cabin

is usually no more than 15 to 20 cm. This dimension is marked A in the drawing in Fig. 1.

Figure 1 also shows a filling vessel 5, namely in the area of the filling opening 2 and below the drain tap 4 of the evaporator unit.

The same filling vessel is shown in the other figures in different views or sections. It has a cuboid-shaped base body 6, to which a funnel-shaped spout 7 is connected on a short narrow side, which projects beyond the outline of the base body 6. The spout 7 rises above the height of the long narrow sides of the cuboid-shaped base body 5. The lateral edge 9 of the spout projects above the narrow sides 8 of the cuboid-shaped base body 6 in height (cf. Fig. 7). At the end of the cuboid-shaped base body 6 facing the spout 7, a downward-facing end wall 14 is provided, which ends at a distance from the lower broad side of the cuboid and in this way forms a strip-shaped passage 15. In the upper area of the end wall 14 there is an opening 16, which serves as a ventilation hole.

At the end of the cuboid base body 6 facing the spout 7, more precisely at the opposite long narrow sides 8, pivot bearings 11 are arranged for a handle 10, which in a first position spans the upper broad side of the filling vessel 5 and in a second position, pivoted by 90°, surrounds the spout 7. This second pivot position can be seen in Fig. 6, in which the filling vessel is tilted by 90° on a narrow front side.

At the other end of the cuboid-shaped base body 6, a fixed handle 12 is provided, which is attached directly to the upper side 13 of the cuboid-shaped base body 6.

The filling and emptying of the evaporator vessel using the filling vessel according to the invention is done as follows:

The filling vessel is placed under the faucet of a wash basin with its spout 7 open at the top. Due to its flat design, the filling vessel can rest on the edge of the wash basin. The water runs through the spout open at the top through the strip-shaped passage 15 into the cuboid base body 6. The air in the cuboid base body can escape via the vent hole 16. When the desired fill level is reached, the filling vessel is lifted out of the wash basin and can then be carried to the sauna cabin with one hand using the pivoting handle held in the pivot bearings 11 in the position shown in Figure 6. Once there, the user also takes hold of the handle 12 and swings the filling vessel 5 into a substantially horizontal position, whereby by lifting the vessel above the horizontal using the handle 12 he can cause the water in the cuboid base body 6 to flow out via the spout 7 into the filling opening 2 of the evaporator vessel. Here too, the water in the cuboid base vessel flows through the strip-shaped opening 15 into the spout, with air flowing into the cuboid base body through the vent hole 16. After filling the evaporator vessel, the steam bath is put into operation. Due to its low height, the filling vessel can be stowed under the sauna heater. In order to collect the remaining water from the evaporator vessel after bathing, the evaporator vessel is placed with its spout open at the top almost under the evaporator vessel and then the drain tap 4 is opened. The water flows from the drain tap 4 into the spout and from there into the strip-shaped passage 15 in the cuboid-shaped base body. Due to the volume adjustment of the filling vessel 5 to the volume of the evaporator vessel 1, it is always ensured that the filling vessel cannot overflow. The filling vessel 5 filled in this way is carried with a pivoting handle 10 to a corresponding drain and emptied there in the manner described above.

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Claims (11)

1. Evaporator unit for a sauna or steam bath cabin, with a portable filling vessel ( 5 ) and a stationary evaporator vessel ( 1 ) with a drain tap ( 4 ) near the floor for draining the residual water from the evaporator vessel ( 1 ), characterized in that on the one hand the volume of the filling vessel ( 5 ) is adapted to the filling volume of the evaporator vessel ( 1 ) and on the other hand the height (B) of the filling opening of the filling vessel ( 5 ) is adapted to the distance (A) between the floor and the drain tap ( 4 ). 2. Evaporator unit according to claim 1, characterized in that the filling vessel consists of a cuboid-like base body ( 6 ) with a spout ( 7 ) attached to one end face of the base body. 3. Evaporator unit according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the cuboid-shaped base body ( 6 ) is closed on all sides, except for the end wall adjacent to the spout ( 7 ). 4. Evaporator unit according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the spout ( 7 ) has an edge ( 9 ) which adjoins the long narrow sides of the cuboid-shaped base body ( 6 ) and projects upwards above the long narrow sides of the cuboid-shaped base body ( 6 ). 5. Evaporator unit according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the end wall ( 14 ) adjacent to the spout ( 7 ) ends at a distance from the bottom of the filling vessel to form a strip-shaped passage ( 15 ), wherein a vent hole ( 16 ) is provided in the upper region of the end wall ( 6 ). 6. Evaporator unit according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the height of the strip-shaped passage ( 15 ) is approximately 1/5 of the height of the end wall ( 14 ). 7. Evaporator unit according to at least one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the strip-shaped passage ( 15 ) extends over the entire width of the short narrow side of the cuboid-shaped base body ( 6 ). 8. Evaporator unit according to at least one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the filling vessel ( 5 ) has at least one handle ( 10 ) mounted in pivot bearings ( 11 ) on the opposite long narrow sides ( 8 ) of the cuboid base body ( 6 ), which in a first pivot position projects beyond the broad side of the cuboid base body ( 6 ) and in a second pivot position extends in the direction of the long narrow sides ( 8 ), projecting beyond the spout ( 7 ). 9. Evaporator unit according to at least one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the pivot bearings ( 11 ) are arranged approximately at the end of the cuboid-shaped base body ( 6 ) adjacent to the spout ( 7 ). 10. Evaporator unit according to at least one of claims 1b to 9, characterized in that a further handle ( 12 ) is arranged at the end of the cuboid-shaped base body ( 6 ) facing away from the spout ( 7 ). 11. Filling vessel for an evaporator unit according to at least one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that on the one hand the volume of the filling vessel ( 5 ) is adapted to the filling volume of the evaporator vessel ( 1 ) and on the other hand the height (B) of the filling opening of the filling vessel ( 5 ) is adapted to the distance (A) between the bottom and the drain tap ( 4 ) of the evaporator unit.