AU2421300A - Evaporating unit for an air acclimatizer - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Applicant(s): COL-VEN S.A.

Invention Title: EVAPORATING UNIT FOR AN AIR ACCLIMATIZER a a.

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a. a a The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: I~ i p 3 EVAPORATING UNIT FOR AN AIR ACCLIMATIZER FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention refers to the climatization of short, medium and long distance transport vehicle cabins for passengers and cargo, such as trucks, minibuses, as well as road-building and agricultural machinery and other means of locomotion. More particularly, it refers to an evaporating unit of the type which is mounted on the roof of the cabin and is provided with an external air intake, which is cooled and circulated inside the cabin. The cooling is generally carried out by passing the air through a radiator/evaporator made from a porous material ~which is kept humid, which fulfills the double function of thermal exchanger, taking heat from the air, and humidifier, which gives the sensation of the air having been cooled. The cabin is cooled by the lower temperature of the climatized air and by the evaporation of the humidity which comes in with the air.

15 This invention refers specifically to the hot air intake for the evaporator.

These units are attractive due to their cost and lower maintenance compared with the traditional air conditioning units, furthermore they do not require to take any energy from the engine of the truck, which signifies likewise o an operative saving as well as not reducing the available power of the transport vehicle for its own locomotion.

These air acclimatizers may also be adapted to other uses, such as 00. transitory or precarious living quarters, for example, workshops. The advantage :.00in these static installations is the avoidance in the use of compressors and the electrical consumption.

BACKGROUND OF THE ART Acclimatizers of the type described in the previous chapter are known on the market. These units have a water deposit and a pump which circulates the water towards the evaporator in order to keep it humid. An electric ventilator sucks hot air through the intake, sucking it through the evaporator, where it is conditioned, leaving heat and absorbing humidity, prior to ventilating the climatized air towards the interior of the cabin.

These units are commercially successful due to their simplicity and the advantages already mentioned. Argentine patent Number 235,114 and the United States of America patent Number 3,867,486 describe acclimatizers with those characteristics. In both of the aforementioned patents, the evaporating unit comprises a plastic cabinet adapted for mounting on the roof of a cabin. The extemrnal air intake is made up of a grid positioned in the front part of the cabinet, through which the hot air is sucked through an evaporator, the cooled air leaving through a throat which has been made in the base of the cabinet and into the cabin, through an orifice which has been made in the roof.

The cooled air which enters the cabin is relatively noisy and it has been discovered that an important part of the noise transmitted by the air to the interior of the cabin comes from its passage through the intake grid in the front part of the aforementioned evaporating unit. The problem with this level of noise is aggravated by the higher speed of the modern trucks compared with previous models.

It has also been observed that the frontal flow of incoming air, because it is direct, is prone to allow the entry of bugs and particles into the air intake, which 15 is equipped with a filter. The accumulation of bugs and dirt trapped by the filter obstructs it progressively, reducing the cooling effect of the acclimatizer. Those which pass through the filter, due to their seize, enter the cabin, which is disagreable to the driver and occupants.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 20 It has been found that this level of noise can be substantially reduced by taking the air to be conditioned through the base of the unit. This solution has the added advantage of reducing the entry of bugs and particles to the intake.

pursuit of these objectives and advantages, this invention comprises an evaporating unit for a acclimatizer whose front is substantially closed, avoiding the generation of noise due to the frontal intake of air against the conventional grid/filter system, while the air intake is placed in the base of the cabinet.

Suitably, the air intake is made up of a grid arrangement distributed around the base of the cabinet, preferably surrounding the throat which connects it to the cabin.

In addition to achieving a significant reduction of air noise in the cabin, which has been the main concern which has been addressed in the development of the invention, the preferred arrangement makes the air intake in the base surround the evaporator, increasing the flow surface through the porous tubular 3 wall, resulting in a better use of and efficiency in the functions of cooling and humidifying the air.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other characteristics and details of the object of this invention and the way in which it can be developed, implemented and put into practice can be better understood through the following detailed description of an example of an embodiment which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, where: Figure 1 is a lower perspective view of an evaporating unit which forms part of a acclimatizer, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of this invention.

Figures 2 and 2' are upper plan views of an evaporating unit like the ones of the aforementioned patents and of the acclimatizer of Figure 1, respectively, S. comparatively representing the entry flow of hot air.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION 15 The evaporating unit for the acclimatizer represented in Figure 1 comprises a flattened cabinet 1' of plastic material whose base 55, of generally quadrangular shape, centrally presents a throat 11 which is introduced through an opening in the roof of the cabin (not illustrated). In its lower portion, the throat finishes in grids 32 with deflectors. The hot air to be conditioned enters the 020 evaporating unit through an air intake 12', whose arrangement is detailed later on. This air is sucked through an evaporator, which is not detailed as it is not pertinent to the escence of this invention. It is enough to clarify that the evaporator can be considered as the fundamental component within the cabinet which is formed by a tubular porous body which occupies a significant part of the interior of the cabinet and is maintained humidified through an appropriate homogeneous distributor system. The passage of hot air evaporates the water which comes out from the evaporator body, the air leaving cooled and humidified, that is to say conditioned or climatized, by the deflectors 32 positioned in the roof of the cabin. The deflectors 32 allow to regulate the flow towards the driver and the passenger seat.

In accordance with the invention, the air intake 12' comprises a grid arrangement 51 generally horizontally distributed, in a substantially perimetrical manner, about the base 55 of the cabinet Suitably, the arrangement 51 comprises three horizontal grids formed with the same material as the base 55 or the cabinet (that is to say) a front grid 51 F adjacent to the front edge of the base 55 and two side grids 51L respective to the sides, continuing the ends of same. The front 53 of the cabinet 1' is substantially blind, unlike what happens with the cabinets of conventional cabinets, where the air enters frontwise, as shown by arrows F in Figure 2.

In the improved acclimatizer of the invention, the hot air to be climatized is taken from the periphery of the cabinet 1, mainly from the air which flows between the base 55 of the cabinet 1' and the roof of the cabin. As illustrated in Figure the effective section of the air intake is greater than in the previous case and the air enters from multiple directions, as indicated by arrows M.

It has been observed, through trials, that the level of noise within the cabin with the acclimatizer in operation, that is to say the noise transmitted by the climatized air itself, is substantially lower than in the known units. Likewise, in virtue of the fact that the air enters in multiple directions M, the concatenation of 15 the flow of air through the evaporator is helped. It is likewise observed that the entry of bugs and disagreable particles brought in by the air into the cabin is lower. This second effect would be due to the change in direction of the air before entering the cabinet making the heavier strange particles pass through without entering the grids 51.

20 There is no doubt whatsoever that diverse modifications, variants and/or attachments can be added to the above described embodiment, without altering the nature or departing from the spirit of the invention, by adapting it for example other applications different from those of trucks.

For the purposes of this specification it will be clearly understood that the word "comprising" means "including but not limited to", and that the word "comprises" has a corresponding meaning.

Claims (4)

1. An evaporating unit for an air acclimatizer, the acclimatizer comprises a cabinet provide with an external air intake which is sucked through an evaporator housed within the cabinet, where the air is climatized prior to leaving towards a cabin or habitation by means of an air outlet arranged in the base of the cabinet, characterized in that said external air intake is made in the substantially horizontal base of said cabinet.

2. An evaporating unit in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that said external air intake is made up of a grid arrangement located in the perimeter of said cabinet base and which communicate with said evaporator within the i 25 cabinet.

3. An evaporating unit in accordance with claim 2, characterized in that said grid arrangement is made up of a front grid close to the frontal border of the base and two side grids in the respective sides of the base. *o

4. An evaporating unit in accordance with claim 2 or 3, characterized in that said grids are integrated to the same material of said cabinet base. Dated this 30th day of March 2000 COL-VEN S.A. By their Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH HACK Fellows Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia