Off-road evaporative air cooler

A portable, evaporative air cooler for use within a vehicle, said evaporative air cooler comprising:

• a rigid base generally in the form of a parallelpiped adapted to be disposed upon a supporting surface for containing water, said base divided into an air admission compartment at one end of said base, a filter compartment at an opposite end of said base, and a wick compartment disposed between said air admission compartment and said filter compartment;
• a wick disposed within said wick compartment and immersed in water;
• a filter disposed within said filter compartment adjacent said wick for resisting water sloshing, said filter immersed in water;
• a removable cover adapted to be sealably coupled to said base, said cover comprising:
• an air inlet for admitting air into said air admission compartment,
• a grate covering said inlet for prefiltering incoming air and for resisting water sloshing;
• a separate fan intake plenum spaced apart from said grate and adapted to be disposed above said filter, said plenum being in fluid flow communication with said filter compartment;
• fan means mounted upon said cover externally of said base for sanctioning said plenum thereby drawing air through said air admission compartment, said wick, and said filter to thereby humidify and cool the air, said fan means comprising an outlet adapted to be coupled to a hose for directing cooled air in a desired direction within said vehicle.

A portable, slosh resistant evaporative air cooler comprising:

• a rigid base generally in the form of a parallelpiped adapted to be disposed upon a supporting surface for containing water, said base comprising a floor and a plurality of spaced apart ribs integrally formed in the floor for dividing the base into an air admission compartment at one end of said base, a filter compartment at an opposite end of said base, and a separate wick compartment disposed between said air admission compartment and said filter compartment;
• a wick disposed within said wick compartment and immersed in water for humidifying air traveling therethrough;
• a filter disposed within said filter compartment for filtering air traveling therethrough, said filter immersed in water;
• a removable cover adapted to be sealably coupled to said base, said cover comprising:
• an air inlet for admitting air into said air admission compartment,
• a grate covering said inlet for prefiltering incoming air;
• a fan intake plenum spaced apart from said grate and adapted to be disposed above said filter compartment for resisting sloshing, said plenum being in fluid flow communication with said filter compartment;
• said wick and said filter disposed upon said floor and extending between said floor and said cover for minimizing water sloshing;
• and,
• fan means externally mounted upon said cover for suctioning said plenum and thereby drawing air through said air admission compartment, said wick and said filter, said fan means comprising an outlet for directing cooled air in a desired direction.