Headworn defogger
OwnerAaron J. Bennettinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A head-worn air pump is provided in a housing, which directs a stream of air to the goggles between the user and the interior surface of the goggles. The housing is mounted to the user's head independently of the goggles. One or more flexible tubes or hoses can be attached to a manifold or plenum at the housing that receives air under pressure from the pump, and extend from the rear of the head to one or both sides of the goggles. The air can be supplied either at ambient temperature or refrigerated and/or heated, as desired in particular applications.
Claims15
An apparatus for use with eye-wear having a viewing surface and structure for securing the eye-wear to a head of a user to cover eyes of the user, said apparatus comprising:
- a housing mountable to the user's head independent from the eye-wear, said housing having an opening;
- an air pump mounted in said housing, said air pump having a fan and a control circuit to selectively operate said fan, and said air pump having an outlet aligned with said opening of said housing;
- a manifold mounted at said opening of said housing, said manifold including at least two outlets and an inlet for receiving compressed air and outputting the air through said first and second outlets of said manifold;
- and
- first and second tubes connected to said first and second outlets of said manifold, respectively, and said first and second tubes having outlet ends and extending between said manifold and the viewing surface of the eye-wear with said outlet ends of said first and second tubes directing air from said manifold to direct two separate streams of air to the inside surface of the eyewear, and said first and second tubes being separate from the structure for securing the eye-wear to the head of the user.
A defogger kit for use with eye-wear, the eye-wear having a viewing surface and structure for securing the eye-wear to a head of a user, said defogger kit comprising:
- a housing mountable adjacent to the user's head independent from the eye-wear, said housing having an opening;
- an air pump mounted in said housing, said air pump having a fan and a control circuit to selectively operate said fan, and said air pump having an outlet aligned with said opening of said housing;
- a first manifold for releasably mounting at said opening of said housing, said first manifold including first and second outlets and an inlet in communication with said outlet of said air pump through said opening of said housing when mounted at said opening for receiving air from said air pump and for separating and outputting the air flow from said two outlets of said manifold into two separate air flows, and said first and second outlets in a first configuration for coupling to first and second tubes, said first and second tubes having outlet ends for directing air from said manifold to direct two separate streams of air to the inside surface of the eyewear, and said first and second tubes being separate from the structure for securing the eye-wear to the head of the user;
- and
- a second manifold for releasably mounting at said opening of said housing when said first manifold is removed from said housing, said second manifold including first and second outlets and an inlet in communication with said outlet of said air pump through said opening of said housing when mounted to said housing for receiving air from said air pump, said first and second outlets of said second manifold in a second configuration for coupling to said first and second tubes, and said outlets of said first and second tubes for directing air from said second manifold to direct two separate streams of air to the inside surface of the eye-wear.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.