This invention relates to portable heating and air conditioning systems, and is particularly concerned with a portable or transportable unit that can deliver heated or cooled and filtered air to headgear of a worker, e.g., the helmet worn by a welder.
At the present time, welders working in a hostile environment need to be provided with fresh filtered air delivered via a flexible air hose to their mask or helmet. In some environments where welding is performed, the welder may become unbearably warm, with temperatures often well over 100° F. In an outdoor winter environment, the welder may need to work in sub-zero surroundings, and the constant cold makes it difficult to work.
Currently, there are systems to provide air to welders masks and welders helmets, but these do not provide properly heated and filtered air or refrigerated and filtered air. Accordingly, welders working in a hostile environment, i.e., extreme heat or extreme cold, have had difficulty in working continuously due to the discomfort in the heat or cold.
Accordingly there is a need for a mechanical refrigeration/heating system that provides filtered and heated or chilled air, as needed, via an air hose to a welder's helmet. Such a unit should be electrically powered from an available source, such as the local AC mains, and the unit should be designed so that it can be wheeled by one person into the area where needed, outdoors or indoors.