Dehumidifier for Use in Water Damage Restoration

Abstract

A transportable dehumidifier system is provided that employs a thermal expansion valve to control the flow of refrigerant therethrough.

1 . A portable dehumidifier, comprising:
 a housing having an inlet opening for receiving air of a first humidity and an exit opening for expelling air of a second humidity;   an evaporator positioned adjacent to said inlet opening, said evaporator having an inlet tube and an outlet tube;   a compressor interconnected to the evaporator via a outlet tube of the evaporator, the compressor having an exit tube;   a condenser interconnected to the exit tube of the compressor, the condenser having an exit tube that is interconnected to a thermal expansion valve that is also associated with the inlet tube of the evaporator;   a sensor associated with the exit tube of the evaporator; and   wherein the sensor communicates with the thermal expansion valve to control flow of refrigerant flowing through the evaporator, compressor, and tubes.   
     
     
         2 . The portable dehumidifier of  claim 1 , wherein said evaporator is a heat exchanger that employs fins and tubes or micro channels. 
     
     
         3 . The portable dehumidifier of  claim 1 , wherein said condenser is a heat exchanger that employs fins and tubes or micro channels. 
     
     
         4 . The portable dehumidifier of  claim 1 , further comprising a pump that is associated with a reservoir that receives moisture from said evaporator. 
     
     
         5 . The portable dehumidifier of  claim 1 , further comprising a means for chilling air positioned between the inlet opening and the evaporator. 
     
     
         6 . The portable dehumidifier of  claim 1 , further comprising an inlet temperature sensor associated with the inlet opening and an outlet temperature sensor associated with the exit opening. 
     
     
         7 . The portable dehumidifier of  claim 1 , wherein a portion of the housing defines an air path. 
     
     
         8 . The portable dehumidifier of  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the housing is removable. 
     
     
         9 . A dehumidifier, comprising:
 an evaporator;   a compressor associated with the evaporator;   a condenser associated with the compressor;   a valve associated with the condenser and the evaporator;   a sensor that is associated with the valve; and   wherein the sensor communicates with the valve to control flow of refrigerant through the portable dehumidifying system.   
     
     
         10 . The dehumidifier of  claim 9 , wherein said evaporator is a heat exchanger that employs fins and tubes or micro channels. 
     
     
         11 . The dehumidifier of  claim 9 , wherein said condenser is a heat exchanger that employs fins and tubes or micro channels. 
     
     
         12 . The dehumidifier of  claim 9 , further comprising a pump that is associated with a reservoir that receives moisture from said evaporator. 
     
     
         13 . The dehumidifier of  claim 9 , further comprising a means for chilling air positioned between the inlet opening and the evaporator. 
     
     
         14 . The portable dehumidifier of  claim 9 , further comprising an inlet temperature sensor associated with the inlet opening and an outlet temperature sensor associated with the exit opening. 
     
     
         15 . The dehumidifier of  claim 9 , wherein the valve is a thermal expansion valve; 
     
     
         16 . The portable dehumidifier of  claim 9 , further including a housing positioned about the evaporator and the condenser that defines an air path. 
     
     
         17 . The portable dehumidifier of  claim 16 , wherein at least a portion of the housing is removable. 
     
     
         18 . A dehumidifier including a compressor for delivering hot compressed refrigerant, a condenser that receives refrigerant from said compressor and condenses same, an expansion device that receives refrigerant from said condenser and expands same, an evaporator that receives refrigerant from the expansion device and evaporating same and delivers the refrigerant to the compressor, the refrigerant being circulated from said compressor to said condenser to said expansion device to said evaporator and back to said compressor in a refrigeration cycle, the improvement comprising:
 a sensor associated with the evaporator that communicates with the expansion device to control the flow of refrigerant through the dehumidifier.   
     
     
         19 . The dehumidifier of  claim 18  wherein the system is devoid of a capillary tube. 
     
     
         20 . The dehumidifier of  claim 18 , wherein said evaporator is a heat exchanger that employs fins and tubes or micro channels. 
     
     
         21 . The dehumidifier of  claim 18 , wherein said condenser is a heat exchanger that employs fins and tubes or micro channels. 
     
     
         22 . The dehumidifier of  claim 18  wherein the evaporator, condenser compressor, expansion device and associated tubes are enclosed with a housing having an airflow path therethrough. 
     
     
         23 . The dehumidifier of  claim 18 , further comprising an inlet temperature sensor associated with an inlet opening of the housing and an outlet temperature sensor associated with an exit opening of the housing. 
     
     
         24 . The dehumidifier of  claim 18 , further comprising an air-to-air heat exchanger associated with an inlet of said dehumidifier that cools air prior to the same entering said evaporator. 
     
     
         25 . A portable dehumidifier having a controlled flow of refrigerant through a system employing a refrigeration cycle that employs an evaporator, a compressor interconnected to the evaporator via a first tube, a condenser interconnected to a valve via a second tube and to the compressor via a third tube, a forth tube interconnects the valve to the evaporator and a sensor that is associated with the valve and associated with the fourth tube, comprising:
 sensing information related to at least one of temperature and humidity; and   controlling with the valve the flow of refrigerant through the first, second, third and fourth tubes and the compressor, condenser and evaporator.   
     
     
         26 . A portable dehumidifier for removing water from air, comprising:
 a housing having an inlet opening for receiving air of a first humidity and an exit opening for expelling air of a second humidity;   an evaporator positioned adjacent to said inlet opening, said evaporator having an inlet tube and an outlet tube;   a compressor interconnected to the evaporator via a outlet tube of the evaporator, the compressor having an exit tube;   a condenser interconnected to the exit tube of the compressor, the condenser having an exit tube that is interconnected to a thermal expansion valve that is also associated with the inlet tube of the evaporator;   a pump that is associated with a reservoir; and wherein the reservoir includes a sensor that initiates the pump when a fluid introduced into the reservoir reaches a predetermined level and wherein the pump operates after the evaporator ceases dehumidifying air.