An air warming device to facilitate breathing comprising a thin wall air warming chamber having a plurality of cells which extend vertically when the device is worn and placed against the chest region of the user. Each cell has a relatively large opening at the bottom and a relatively smaller opening at the upper end. A first manifold extends across the bottom having an upwardly facing open wall in communication with the large openings at the bottom of each cell and having a small opening to admit outside air into the first manifold. A second manifold extends across the top having a downwardly facing open wall in communication with the small openings at the top of each cell, and having a small opening for warmed air to pass from the second manifold through a tube to a breathing mask over the nose of the user. The breathing mask includes an exhaust valve for exhaled air to escape. A layer of insulating material is placed over the outwardly facing wall of the air warming chamber.
A breath transfer device which uses the heat of exhaled air to warm the body of the wearer of the device in cold environments, and which facilitates condensation of moisture in the device to eliminate the formation of vapor clouds. The device uses a mouthpiece into which exhaled air is blown, and a length of insulated tubing to direct the warm air to a vest-like radiating chamber garment. The moisture in the expelled air condenses on the inner surfaces of the chamber and is retained in special condensing pockets formed at the ends of internal partitions which provide a sinuous path for air flow through the chamber. Cooled dry air is finally exhausted at the lowermost point of the radiating chamber.
A cold weather breathing device and method. Exhaled air warmed by the lungs of a user is flowed into contact with a heat exchange medium to heat the heat exchange medium. The heat exchange medium is positioned in a hollow body adjacent the chest and under cold weather outer clothing of the user. Upon inhaling, cold outside air is contacted with the heat exchange medium so that the inhaled air is heated by the heat exchange medium.
A process is proposed for heat recovery with possible recovery and use of humidity yielded directly or indirectly by the human body and in particular to heat air to be breathed in the first case or to heat the body with exhaled hot air. In accordance with the invention the process includes a garment, a mouthpiece designed to be placed in the mouth for breathing by the user, said mouthpiece being connected through a flexible collecting tube with a collecting vessel arranged in the garment at the height of the user's chest, a discharge tube, for draining condensate from the vessel, and a further plurality of tubes connected at one end to the vessel, and at their opposite ends with at least one mixer chamber formed in the garment to receive heated air from the human body and fresh air from the outside, the heated air being taken from the proximity of the human body through an air permeable inner layer of the garment for communication with interstices of a filling material interposed between the inner permeable layer and an outer air-tight thermally impermeable layer of the garment.
