Neonatal incubator humidifier system
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorAnirban Ghosh
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A humidifier system for humidifying a microenvironment in a neonatal incubator includes a reservoir configured to hold water to be evaporated for humidifying the microenvironment. A chamber divider defines a heating chamber within the reservoir, and a movable heating element is positioned at a surface level of the water inside the heating chamber so as to heat the water at the surface level inside the heating chamber. The heating element is configured such that it is moved downward within the heating chamber so as to maintain the heating element at the surface level of the water as an amount of water in the reservoir decreases.
Claims19
A humidifier system for humidifying a microenvironment in a neonatal incubator, the humidifier system comprising:
- a reservoir configured to hold water to be evaporated for humidifying the microenvironment;
- a chamber divider defining a heating chamber within the reservoir;
- a movable heating element positioned at a surface level of the water inside the heating chamber so as to heat the water at surface level inside the heating chamber;
- wherein the heating element is moved downward within the heating chamber as an amount of water in the reservoir decreases so as to maintain the heating element at the surface level of the water;
- and
- wherein the heating element has a hole that accommodates a guide, and wherein the heating element slides down the guide as it moves downward within the heating chamber.
A humidifier system for humidifying a microenvironment in a neonatal incubator, the humidifier system comprising:
- a reservoir configured to hold water to be evaporated for humidifying the microenvironment;
- a chamber divider defining a heating chamber within the reservoir;
- a movable heating element positioned at a surface level of the water inside the heating chamber so as to heat the water at surface level inside the heating chamber;
- wherein the heating element is moved downward within the heating chamber as an amount of water in the reservoir decreases so as to maintain the heating element at the surface level of the water;
- and
- wherein the heating element is maintained at the surface level of the water by a tension spring exerting a spring force calibrated based on a weight of the heating element and a buoyancy force of the water on the heating element to maintain the heating element at the surface level as the amount of water in the reservoir decreases.
A neonatal incubator comprising:
- a bed configured to support a neonate;
- a hood above the bed configured to encapsulate a microenvironment around the neonate;
- a humidifier system configured to control humidity of the microenvironment, the humidifier system having:
- a reservoir configured to hold water to be evaporated for humidifying the microenvironment;
- a heating chamber divider defining a heating chamber within the reservoir;
- a movable heating element positioned at a surface level of the water inside the heating chamber so as to heat the water at surface level inside the heating chamber;
- wherein the heating element is moved downward within the heating chamber as an amount of water in the reservoir decreases so as to maintain the heating element at the surface level of the water;
- and
- wherein the heating element has a hole that accommodates a guide, and wherein the heating element slides down the guide as it moves downward within the heating chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.