Humidifier

Claim 1

In a humidifier of the type including a frame, a motorpowered blower attached to said frame for drawing an airflow through said humidifier ovEr a water pad mounted transverse to the path of said airflow, the improvement of water distribution means disposed above said pad for providing a uniformly distributed flow of water to said pad, said distribution means comprising a pan having a bottom, first and second ends and sidewalls, with said bottom being inclined at an angle with respect to the horizontal such that said bottom is higher at said first end than at said second end; a water reservoir positioned at said first end of said pan, said reservoir adapted to be connected to a source of water to provide a constant water supply in said reservoir, said reservoir being defined by the sidewalls of said pan, and a dam extending between said sidewalls over which water in said reservoir spills to flow to the remaining portion of said pan, said pan also including a plurality of apertures which are disposed at regularly spaced intervals in said bottom in said remaining portion of said pan and which pass through the bottom of said pan so as to permit water to flow through said apertures and onto said pad; means defining a plurality of water channels in said pan, each of said means which defines a water channel extending from each of said apertures to adjacent said dam, each of said means defining said water channels including a circumferential wall section which encircles said aperture to which it extends and which is spaced from said aperture; and wall means positioned about each of said apertures for preventing flow through said aperture until the portion of the water channels means between said wall means and the said circumferential wall section is filled with water to a depth equal to the height of the wall means.