AU2005278943B2

AU2005278943B2 - Cooling apparatus

Info

Publication number: AU2005278943B2
Application number: AU2005278943A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Richard Ellicott
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-08-05
Filing date: 2005-07-29
Publication date: 2009-11-26
Anticipated expiration: 2025-07-29
Also published as: BRPI0508253A; US20050247074A1; WO2006024916B1; GB2416832A; GB0514645D0; EP1774227A1; IL177180A0; MXPA06012769A; AU2005278943A1; WO2006024916A1; GB2416832B

Description

- I COOLING APPARATUS This invention relates to a cooling apparatus. 5 There are many occasions in which it is desirable to provide a cooled area in either outdoor or indoor situations so that people within a specific area can remain cool despite a somewhat higher than desirable ambient temperature. To this end, the invention seeks to provide a cooling apparatus which can provide a 10 cooled area suitable for this purpose. According to one aspect of the invention there is provided Preferably the column extends to a height greater than the average height of a is standing person, in particular, greater than 175 cm (69 inches). Suitably, a housing may be provided at the top of the column for receiving the cooling means. The housing may form a canopy. 20 The housing may comprise an upper conical section and a lower coaxial frustoconical section in which the maximum diameter of the upper section is larger than the minimum diameter of the lower section and the maximum diameter of the lower section is greater than the maximum diameter of the upper section. 25 The housing may contain an evaporator or cooling coil and an associated fan and may also contains a refrigeration condenser and an associated fan. The evaporator and its associated fan may be located in the lower section of the housing and the refrigeration condenser and associated fan may be located in the upper section of the housing. 30 The lower section of the housing may have a first set of grilles or louvers arranged in its periphery for the passage of air into or out of the housing and may have a second set of grilles or louvers in its lower surface for the passage of air into or out of the housing.

-2 The first set of grilles or louvers may comprise an air inlet for ambient air while the second set of grilles or louvers may comprise an air outlet for cooled air or vice versa. The upper section of the housing may have a third set of grilles or louvers arranged in 5 its periphery for the passage of air into the housing and may have fourth set of grilles or louvers in its upper surface for the passage of heated air out of the housing. The column may be hollow and may contain piping and electrical feed to the cooling means and the fan(s). 10 The base may comprise storage for a cooling fluid for supply to the cooling means and may be provided with connection means for connection to an electricity supply. The apparatus may be constructed alternatively to provide heated air instead of cold is air and may include switching means for selectively reversing the operation of the condenser and evaporator so as to provide heated air instead of cooled air. The switching means may be controlled by a thermostat so that its operation depends on the ambient temperature and the thermostat may be settable manually by the 20 operator. The apparatus may be arranged to distribute the cooled air through 3600. Additionally, the invention may include any or all of the other features described 25 hereafter The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which: 30 Figure 1 is a simplified front view of one form of cooling apparatus in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a schematic but more detailed cross-sectional view of the apparatus of figure 1; 35 -3 Figure 3 is a view from below of the upper part the apparatus of figure 2 with a lower cover removed. Figures 4 and 5 are partial views, similar to the upper portion of figure 2, but showing a s second embodiment of the cooling apparatus in accordance with the invention in which provision is made for switching between a cooling operation and a heating operation, figure 4 showing the set up for cooling and figure 5 showing the set up when switched over to heating.. 10 Figure 6 is a schematic view of another embodiment of the invention, and Figure 7 is a schematic view of an embodiment which incorporates a heating unit. Referring firstly to figure 1 , there is shown a cooling apparatus 1 comprising a base 3 is for supporting the apparatus on the ground or the floor of a structure such as a patio, a column 5 extending upwardly from the base 3 and an upper housing 7, generally carrying refrigeration and air distribution equipment, to be described later in connection with figure 2. The column 5 is of a height at least greater than the average height of a sitting person but preferably of a height greater than the average height of a standing 20 person. This means that the column 5 is of a height such that the lower surface of the upper housing is positioned above the ground (or above the lower extremities of the base 3) a distance greater than the average height of a sifting person but preferably of a height greater than the average height of a standing person. Typically, this means that the height above ground of the lower surface of the upper housing 7 is greater 25 than about 102 cm (40 inches) and preferably greater than 175 cm (69 inches) In this way the apparatus can be readily used, with the smaller height column, to cool air in an area where people are sitting and with the larger height column, the cooling area will be extended to cool also standing people in this area. 30 The upper housing 7 is, as shown, of generally circular construction having a pagoda like shaped canopy and is composed of an upper section 9 of conical shape and a lower section 11 of frusto-conical shape which latter is of a larger external diameter than the upper section 9. As can be seen, the upper section 9 extends slightly beyond the inner edge of the lower section 11 to provide a recessed joining section 13 which 35 contains louvers or grills 15 which enable air to enter the upper housing 7.

-4 The upper section 9 contains adjustable louvers or grilles 17 which allow the exhaust of heated air produced by the refrigeration equipment. The base 3, in addition to its supporting function, may contain the compressor and condensate tanks and may 5 provide a location or connection point for a remote packaged chilled water supply. Having these items in the base 3 gives added weight to the base and more stability to the free-standing structure. In view of the weight of the base 3, to make the apparatus more mobile, it may be mounted on castors (not shown). 10 Connection between the base 3 and upper arrangement 7 is carried out within the column 5 to which end, the column 5 may contain pipes, electrical feeds etc. A remote controller may be provided to control the various operations of the apparatus so as to enable sophisticated environmental control. The sensor for this remote is controller may conveniently be located in the column 5 or any other part which provides convenient access. Turning now to figures 2 and 3, a more detailed version of the cooling apparatus of the invention will be described. The construction is basically similar to that shown in figure 20 1. The upper housing 7 houses the refrigeration condenser(s) 21 with associated fan(s) 23 and the evaporator(s) 25 and associated fan(s) 27. It will be appreciated that while there will usually only be one condenser and evaporator with their associated fans, 25 more than one of these may be included as desired. As can be seen, the condenser 21 and fan 23 are housed in the upper section 9 of the upper housing 7 while the evaporator 25 and its fan 27 are located in the lower section 11. As shown, these units and their fans are of an integrated coaxial construction with the units being on the outside and surrounding the fans. Alternatively, in a form not shown, the arrangement 30 can be such that the condenser sits on top of its fan while the evaporator sits below its fans. For a full understanding of the construction of the housing/canopy 7, it should be said that it comprises an upper conical section 9 and a lower coaxial frustoconical section 35 11 in which the maximum diameter of the upper section 9 is larger than the minimum -5 diameter of the lower section 11 and the maximum diameter of the lower section 11 is greater than the maximum diameter of the upper section 9. In use, air is drawn in through the perimeter louvers or grills 15 by the fan 23 which is 5 speed controlled and over the coil of the condenser 21 , Thereafter, the air is expelled through the louvers or grilles 17 as indicated by the outgoing arrows above the upper section 9. Air is also drawn in by means of louvers or grilles 29 situated around the perimeter of 10 the lower part 11 by means of the fan 27, which is also speed controlled , across the coil of the evaporator 25. Thereafter, the cooled air is distributed downwardly from the lower central part of the lower section 11 by way of louvers or grilles 31. as can be seen, the apparatus as set up here can distribute the cooled air over 3600. is The upper housing 7 can be suitably insulated to avoid the formation of condensation in some environmental conditions. The base 3 provides a stable base for the apparatus and also houses the refrigeration compressor together with its attendant conventional ancillaries such as suitable valves 20 and strainers and a condensate drain reservoir. For this reason, the base may require some sound insulation. Condensate tanks 33 are also located in the base and these will either be emptied manually or by means of automatic condensate pumps discharging through a suitably sized drain 35. Suitably sized connection points 37 may be fitted to the base 3 for use with either a remotely sited water chiller or condensing 25 unit. Connection means for a supply of electricity are also provided Preferably an appropriately shaped cover or removable housing (not shown) is provided to cover the base and its components. Figure 3 shows a view of the underside of the upper housing 7, with the small circles in the column 5 representing piping and electrical cabling connections between the upper housing 7 and the components in the base 3. 30 It will be appreciated that while the above described embodiment shows one form of cooling apparatus in accordance with the invention, the apparatus is suited to a large number of variations within the basic concept of the invention.

-6 For example, the grilles or louvers 25 and 31 may be reversed so as to provide cooling air from the periphery of the lower section 11 of the housing 7. Where an external source of chilled water is used, only the evaporator 25 with its fan 5 27 is needed. While the remainder of the refrigeration apparatus has been indicated as being situated in the base 3, it will be understood that, with a suitable construction, some or all of this apparatus could be carried in the housing/canopy 7. Any or all of the grilles or louvers may be variably controlled in respect of direction of io airflow and/or size of aperture. A remote control arrangement may be used for controlling any of the functions of the apparatus. Although a circular construction of the housing/canopy 7 has been shown, other shapes, such as square or polygonal could be used. Furthermore, while a pagoda 15 shape of the housing has been shown, any suitable shape of housing could be used. If the apparatus is used internally or beneath an existing canopy, the canopy shape of the apparatus may not be needed. There are occasions when, while the original state of the ambient air is sufficiently hot 20 to require the provision of cold air, the temperature of the ambient air can drop to the point where heated air rather than cold air is needed. Such a situation can occur on a hot summer day which cools substantially in the evening. The second embodiment of the invention as shown in figures 4 and 5 is designed to 25 cope with such a situation. Thus, the arrangement of figure 4, the arrangement is set up to provide cooling air. To this end, and similarly to the arrangement shown in figure 2, the upper housing 7 houses a refrigeration condenser 121 and its associated fan 123 and an evaporator 30 125 and its associated fan 127. As can be seen, the condenser 121 and fan 123 are housed in an upper section 109 of the upper arrangement 7 while the evaporator 125 and its fan 127 are located in a lower section 111. As shown, these units and their fans are of coaxial construction with the units being on the outside and surrounding the fans. 35 -7 For a full understanding of the construction of the housing/canopy in this embodiment, it should be said that it comprises a top conical section 107 forming a "roof structure, an upper section 109 in the form of a coaxial frustoconical section and a lower coaxial frustoconical section 111 in which the maximum diameter of top section 107 is larger s than the minimum diameter of the upper section 109, the maximum diameter of the upper section 109 is larger than the minimum diameter of the lower section 111 and the maximum diameter of the lower section 11 is greater than the maximum diameter of the upper section 109. In this way, the housing 7 expands conically downward in three tiers. 10 In cooling operation, air is drawn in through the perimeter louvers or grills 115 by the fan 123 which is speed controlled and over the coil of the condenser 121 , Thereafter, the warm air, warmed by the operation 9f the condenser 121 air is expelled through louvers or grilles 117. 15 Air to be cooled is drawn in by through louvers or grilles 129 situated beneath the lower part 111 by means of the fan 127, which is also speed controlled, and passes the air across the coil of the evaporator 125. Thereafter, the air, cooled by the evaporator 125, is distributed downwardly from the lower section 111 by way of louvers or grilles 131. 20 When the ambient air ceases to be hot, the operation of the condenser 121 and evaporator 125 are reversed so that the condenser 121 becomes an evaporator and the evaporator 125 becomes a condenser as shown in figure 5. This is carried out by means of a well known switching mechanism (not shown) which causes the flow of 25 refrigerant gas to be reversed. Thus, in the arrangement shown in figure 5, ambient air is still drawn in through the louvers pr grilles 115 and 129, but the air emerging from the louvers or grilles 131 will be heated by the now condenser 125. The air emerging from the louvers or grilles 117 will, with this arrangement , also be warm. 30 The switching arrangement may be operated manually by the user when he or she feels that the ambient temperature warrants it or it may be automatically controlled by means of an ambient air sensing thermostat. This thermostat can suitably be manually controlled to set the changeover temperature. While a particular temperature for changeover can be set so that there can be an overlap. Thus the changeover from cool -8 to warm may take place at one temperature, changeover from warm to cool may take place at another, different temperature. It will of course be understood that modifications may be made to this latterly described 5 embodiment, in particular, where applicable, these modifications may be as described for the first embodiment. Fig. 6 is a schematic side view with some interior parts visible of still another embodiment of the invention. This embodiment, similarly to the Fig. 2 embodiment, 10 places the condenser/fan 21 , 23 in the upper section 209 of the housing 207, the evaporator/fan 25, 27 in the lower housing section 211, ambient air intakes at the grills 215, the warmed air outtakes at the grills 217, the ambient air intake 229 for the evaporator and the cooled air outlet at 231. The upper section 209 differs from that of Fig. 2 in that the maximum diameter of the upper section 209 is not larger than the is minimum diameter of the lower section 211 whereas the maximum diameter of the lower section 211 is still greater than the maximum diameter of the upper section 209. Thus, the large area canopy is formed by the maximum diameter of the lower section. While not visible in Fig. 6, the overall configuration viewed from the top is octagonal 20 rather than circular. In the closed base 203, an outline of the compressor 200 is visible. In this case, the condensate tanks are 233 are built into the wall of the base 203. Numeral 240 is an access door for the base components, and the structure 242 depicted in the column 5 can be a manual switch for the system or a sensor for a remote control (not shown). The internal piping and wiring has been omitted for clarity. 25 The height indicated by reference numeral 244 is at least greater than the average height of a seated person to ensure that the distributed air, which is distributed over a full 360', will cover persons seated around the cooler. Fig, 7 illustrates an embodiment in which an electric heater has been added to the 30 assembly to provide heating instead of cooling where circumstances require. The basic cooling apparatus can be fitted with an electric infra-red heating system. The configuration of this system will be such so as to allow it to be fitted either at time of manufacture or later by the end user. 35 -9 In the embodiment schematically illustrated in Fig. 7, which shows only a lower part 250 of the pagoda-shaped assembly 207 with the grills 231, several infra-red elements or emitters or lamps 252 are mounted at the lower part 250 so that the emitters 256, inside a reflector 258, in turn housed in an enclosure 260, face downward and outward. s They can be supported on the lower part 250 by means of a suitable adjustable bracket 262. Preferably, these heater assemblies 252 will be fitted to the assembly around its perimeter at a point below the first or lower tier where the evaporator, air inlet filter shrouds may be located. The control for the heating can be by the remote controller or by its own dedicated controller/switch; the power supply being fitted into 10 the assembly base. The operation of the heating can be automatic in that when the ambient temperature falls below the controller set point, the cooling function will cease and the heating function will start. As the ambient temperature rises the opposite cycle will prevail. 15 It is also possible that the end user will be able to choose, via an inbuilt, load partialization device; the percentage of heating elements in use at any one time. It is also possible to mount a condensate tray inside the tapered side wall for capturing condensate in the lower part of the housing, and mount the heaters on the underside of 20 the condensate tray. When the assembly is octagonal with straight side edges, the heaters can be rectangular fitted to the straight sides. When the assembly is circular, curved heaters can be used. 25 Alternatively or additionally, if desired, a misting unit can also be added to the assembly to supply misting in addition to or instead of cooled or heated air. It will be seen that the above described embodiments will provide an arrangement 30 which will cool areas where people are sitting or standing and will additionally provide shade by virtue of the formation of the upper part of the apparatus in the form of a canopy. The second embodiment provides additionally the possibility of heating the same area as was cooled when the ambient temperature cools to a degree where such is required.

Claims

1. A free standing and self contained cooling apparatus comprising a base for supporting the apparatus on the ground, a column extending upwardly from the base to s a height greater than 102 cm, a housing located at the top of the column and supported thereby, cooling means located in the housing and cooling the adjacent air, fan means in the housing and arranged for directing the cooled air downward and exit means in the housing arranged to direct the outward air flow from the fan into the whole of the area surrounding the column at the same time. 10

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the column extends to a height greater than the average height of a standing person.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the column extends to a height is greater than 175 cm (69 inches).

4. An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the housing forms a canopy. 20

5. An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the housing comprises an upper conical section and a lower coaxial frustoconical section in which the maximum diameter of the upper section is larger than the minimum diameter of the lower section and the maximum diameter of the lower section is greater than the maximum diameter of the upper section. 25

6. An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the housing contains an evaporator or cooling coil and an, associated fan.

7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the housing also contains a 30 refrigeration condenser and an associated fan.

8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 6 or 7 when appendent to claim 5 wherein the evaporator and its associated fan are located in the lower section of the housing. - II

9. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7 or 8 when appendent to claim 5, wherein the refrigeration condenser and associated fan are located in the upper section of the housing. 5

10 An apparatus as claimed in claim 5 or any claim appendent thereto wherein the lower section of the housing has a first set of grilles or louvers arranged in its periphery for the passage of air into or out of the housing.

11. An apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein the lower section of the housing io has a second set of grilles or louvers in its lower surface for the passage of air into or out of the housing.

12. An apparatus as claimed in claim 11 wherein the first set of grilles or louvers comprise an air inlet for ambient air while the second set of grilles or louvers comprise is an air outlet for cooled air.

13. An apparatus as claimed in claim 11 wherein the second set of grilles or louvers comprise an air inlet for ambient air while the first set of grilles or louvers comprise an air outlet for cooled air. 20

14. An apparatus as claimed in claim 5 or any claim appendent thereto wherein the upper section of the housing has a third set of grilles or louvers arranged in its periphery for the passage of air into the housing. 25

15. An apparatus as claimed in claim 14 wherein the upper section of the housing has a fourth set of grilles or louvers in its upper surface for the passage of heated air out of the housing.

16. An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the column is hollow 30 and contains piping and electrical feed to the cooling means and the fan(s).

17. An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the base comprises storage for a cooling fluid for supply to the cooling means. - 12

18 An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the base is provided with connection means for connection to an electricity supply.

19 An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the apparatus is 5 constructed alternatively to provide heated air instead of cold air.

20. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7 or any claim appendent directly or indirectly thereto and including switching means for selectively reversing the operation of the condenser and evaporator so as to provide heated air instead of cooled air. 10

21 An apparatus as claimed in claim 19, wherein the switching means is controlled by a thermostat so that its operation depends on the ambient temperature.

22. An apparatus as claimed in claim 21 wherein the thermostat is settable is manually by the operator.

23 An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the apparatus further comprises infra-red heating elements distributed around the housing at the top of the column. 20

24. A free standing self-contained cooling apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.