Electric sauna heater with evaporator plates

Abstract

Evaporator tray (100) for a sauna heater has one or more elongate plate members (102) extending across a support member (104). Support member (104) has at least two sides. In use, plate members (102) support rocks (not shown). Plate members (102) have a generally concave or hollow cross-section with a hollow face (106) upturned, which means they can collect unevaporated water, thereby protecting the sauna heater. The generally concave shape may be “V”-shaped, “U”-shaped, arcuate or concave, or any shape suitable for retaining water.

Claims

1. An evaporator tray for a sauna heater comprising: a support member; two or more elongate plate members extending across said support member, said plate members comprising a concave cross-section; in which said plate members form two layers extending across said support member, each layer comprising two or more plate members, one layer arranged above the other in use and in which said layers are horizontally staggered to allow passage of hot air from a heating element located in said sauna heater; wherein, in use, said plate members support rocks and collect unevaporated water thereby protecting the sauna heater.

2. An evaporator tray according to claim 1, in which said generally concave cross-section includes a cross-section which is “V”-shaped, “U”-shaped, arcuate, concave, or other shape suitable for collecting water.

3. An evaporator tray according to claim 1 comprising a housing for retaining said rocks.

4. A sauna heater comprising the evaporator tray of claim 3.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) For a more complete explanation of the present invention and the technical advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following description and the accompanying drawings in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows an evaporator tray for a sauna heater;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of a sauna heater having the evaporator tray; and

(4) FIG. 3 shows a view of a sauna heater having the evaporator tray.

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(5) Referring now to FIG. 1, which shows an evaporator tray 100 for a sauna heater (not shown), one or more elongate plate members 102 extend across a support member 104. Support member 104 has at least two sides. In use, plate members 102 support rocks (not shown). Plate members 102 have a generally concave or hollow cross-section with a hollow face 106 upturned, which means they can collect unevaporated water, thereby protecting the sauna heater. The generally concave shape may be “V”-shaped, “U”-shaped, arcuate or concave, or any shape suitable for retaining water.

(6) Referring now to FIG. 2, which shows a sectional view of a sauna heater 200, evaporator trays 100 are placed overhead and in close proximity to heating elements 202. Sauna rocks 204 are placed on top of plate members 102. Typically there are two layers of plate members 102, one layer arranged above the other in use and which are horizontally staggered to allow passage of hot air from heating elements 202 to rocks 204. Hot air from heating elements 202 heats plate members 102 and rocks 204 to a high temperature.

(7) When water is poured onto rocks 204, it is first evaporated by the heated rocks. When rocks 204 are no longer hot enough to evaporate the water, it travels through onto plate members 102. The top layer of plate members 102 are hotter than rocks 204 and have a high capacity to evaporate the water. When the top layer of plate members 102 have cooled the water travels through to the next layer of plate members 102, which are even hotter and have an even higher capacity to evaporate the water being poured onto the heater.

(8) Referring now to FIG. 3, which shows a view of a sauna heater 200, evaporator trays 100 are contained within a housing 300, which helps support rocks 204 (not shown).

(9) The invention has therefore the ability to maintain a very high evaporation rate for a long time during operation, offering the following advantages:

(10) increasing the capacity of an electric sauna heater to create steam thereby quickly raising the apparent heat in the sauna cabin;

(11) protecting the electrical heating elements from the corrosive effects of contact with the sauna rocks;

(12) protecting the sauna rocks from the damaging effects of the extreme heat which would occur if the rocks were in direct contact with the heating elements; and

(13) providing protection thereby preventing users from placing their hands directly on the heating elements.

(14) The invention provides an important benefit to the enjoyment of a sauna experience with electrical sauna heaters.

(15) Evaporation occurs directly below the rocks and if there is excess water it is ejected outside the heater shell. It is impossible for the evaporator tray to become cold because of their proximity to the heater elements. The running costs of current designs are increased by the short life span of both the rocks and the elements. As these components deteriorate, water is not evaporated effectively and progressively more of the water that is poured onto the heater finds its way down to the electrical connections and other important parts of the heater, thereby shortening the lifespan of the heater housing and components.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

(16) The present invention prolongs the life of the heating elements and rocks while crucially giving excellent performance because it supports the rocks directly above the electrical heating elements and comprises vertically staggered supports providing both vertical and horizontal air passages through the rocks, which allows air to flow rapidly through the rocks.