The present invention relates to a device for varying the characteristics of the air in an environment.

The invention can be applied in a domestic or hotel sector, however it can also be applied in other sectors such as in premises for catering and entertainment.

Nowadays, various different types of system are used to control the air-conditioning of environments.

Systems that entail the use of radiators are very widespread; these are capable of heating the environment by convection or irradiation.

Usually such radiators have exchangers which are passed through by a fluid, which is heated first, and optionally one or more fans to diffuse the stream of warm air generated in proximity to the exchanger.

In a variation, the radiators have an electric resistance as a heating element, which generates heat using the Joule effect.

This heat is then diffused into the surrounding environment by way of, for example, a fan.

Such radiators can be anchored to walls or be positioned in various points of the environment, according to requirements.

This latter type comprises a cable for the electric power supply.

Such conventional techniques have drawbacks, however.

Generally these types of radiator have a non-negligible bulk and an unappealing visual impact.

Furthermore the heat generated by the radiators described above is diffused in limited and confined portions of the surrounding space, by virtue of the orientation of the radiating portion, or it is directed in a specific direction, through the use of a conveniently adapted fan.

The aim of the present invention is to provide a device for varying the characteristics of the air in an environment which is capable of improving the known art in one or more of the above mentioned aspects.

Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a device for varying the characteristics of the air in an environment which has a pleasing visual impact.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for varying the characteristics of the air in an environment which makes it possible to control the climate of all the surrounding space.

A further object of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the known art in an alternative manner to any existing solutions.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for varying the characteristics of the air in an environment which is highly reliable, easy to implement and of low cost.

This aim and these and other objects which will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a device for varying the characteristics of the air in an environment, said device being electrically powered and comprising a housing, which has a first portion and a second portion, of which at least one portion is open and/or perforated, and at least one electric heating element, characterized in that it comprises means for relative movement between said first portion and said second portion from a position for allowing air to pass through at least one of said portions to a position for obstructing air.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the detailed description that follows of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of a device for varying the characteristics of the air in an environment according to the invention, which is illustrated for the purposes of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings wherein:

- Figure 1 is an overall perspective view of a device according to the invention in the inactive configuration;

- Figure 2 is an overall perspective view of the device in Figure 1 in the active configuration;

- Figure 3 is a cross-sectional side view of the device in Figure 2.

With reference to the figures, a device for varying the characteristics of the air in an environment according to the invention is generally designated by the reference numeral 10.

The device 10 comprises an external housing 11.

The housing 11 has rounded comer edges.

In different embodiments, not shown in the figures, the comer edges may not be rounded.

This description considers the device 10 in its operational configuration, i.e. vertical, as shown in the figures. Any indication of its parts should be understood as referring to the configuration shown.

The housing 11 comprises a first portion 12, which is open and/or perforated, and is proximate to the top of the device 10.

The first portion 12 is perimetric and has a plurality of openings and/or through holes which are uniformly distributed.

These openings and/or through holes can have, for example, an elliptical shape, but they can also have other shapes such as, for example, circular or square.

The housing 11 then has a second portion 13, which is unbroken and not perforated.

In variations of embodiment, not shown in the figures, the second portion 13 and not the first portion 12 can be open and/or perforated, or they can both be perforated.

The first portion 12 is adapted to translate between an inactive position, in which it is contained inside the second portion 13, and an active position, in which it is arranged above the second portion 13 so as to define a continuous housing with it.

In this manner, an appealing visual impact of the device 10, when it is not operational, is obtained. In particular, the device 10 comprises means 14 for relative movement between the first portion 12 and the second portion 13 from a position for allowing air to pass through the first portion 12 to a position for obstructing air.

The means 14 can comprise, for example, one or more linear actuators.

These means 14 extend substantially at a vertical axis, equidistant from mutually opposite points of the lateral perimeter, and inside a first duct 15.

Such first duct 15 is in turn contained inside a second duct 16.

The height of the second duct 16 is comparable to that of the first duct 15 and extends in the same direction.

The device 10 comprises at least one electric heating element 17 for the generation of heat using the Joule effect.

In the example illustrated in the figures, there is more than one heating element 17 and they are, for example, ceramic.

In particular, the heating elements 17 are arranged, on a plane, around the first duct 15 and inside the second duct 16.

In the operational configuration, a fan 18 is arranged below these first 15 and second 16 ducts.

This fan 18 is actuated by a brushless electric motor, and allows the rotation speed of the vanes to be varied.

The planar extension of the fan 18 is comparable to the opening area of the second duct 16.

An air cleaner 20 is situated between such fan 18 and the lower surface 19 of the device 10.

In particular, the lower surface 19 has a through central hole at the intake of the cleaner 20.

The cleaner 20 is, for example, of the type that comprises a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter and activated carbon. The passage section of the cleaner 20 is comparable to the planar space occupation of the fan 18; furthermore the cleaner 20 and the fan 18 extend along the same axis, perpendicular to such passage section and such planar space occupation.

The device 10 comprises a keypad 21 for actuating of the various functions.

This keypad 21 is, for example, of the touch-screen type.

The keypad 21, in the embodiment shown in Figure 3, is located on the housing 11, at the portion that comprises the cleaner 20.

The device 10 comprises an electronic board 22 for controlling and managing the various functions of the device by way of a plurality of operating sensors, not shown in the figures.

The board 22 is, for example, fixed to the outer surface of the second duct 16 proximate to the intake at the fan 18.

A plurality of supporting feet 23 extend from the lower surface 19.

A device 10, according to the invention, can be managed by way of the keypad 21, but it can also be managed remotely, for example over a Bluetooth and/or wireless LAN connection using an application running on a smartphone.

It is possible to use the air cleaning function and the heating function simultaneously, or the cleaning function alone.

Operation of the device 10 according to the invention is as follows.

The handling means 14 lift the upper surface of the device 10, exposing the open and/or perforated first portion 12 and allowing the passage of air through the holes in the first portion 12.

The air, at ambient temperature, enters the cleaner 20 from below: the direction is indicated by the arrows 24.

Here it is cleaned and conveyed toward the fan 18 (arrows 25).

The fan 18 drives the cleaned air into the second duct 16, toward the top of the device 10 (arrows 26). The air in the second duct 16 passes through the portion with the heating elements 17 and is heated by virtue of the heat generated by the latter.

The heated air rises toward the first portion 12 (arrows 27).

Then, through the openings and/or holes in the first portion 12, the hot air exits from the device and heats the surrounding environment.

If the device 10 is used only as an air cleaner, the operation and the path of the air is similar, with the difference that the heating elements 17 remain switched off and, as a consequence, the air is not heated.

In practice it has been found that the invention fully achieves the intended aim and objects by providing a device that is capable of controlling the climate of the entire surrounding space and which has an appealing visual impact.

The invention thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, all the details may be substituted by other, technically equivalent elements.

In practice the materials employed, provided they are compatible with the specific use, and the contingent dimensions and shapes, may be any according to requirements and to the state of the art.

The disclosures in Italian Utility Model Application No. 202018000002319 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.

Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly, such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.