EP1116924A1 - Casing for the distribution of ventilating air - Google Patents

Abstract

The air distribution box comprises six faces the first of which is partially open for air distribution outside the box. The five other faces are each closed by a wall (2-6). One of these walls has an opening (14) for an air supply to the box. One of the walls has a side with a groove which extends along a part of the side and is open so as to be recessed from another wall side. Fastenings (12) are provided inside each groove which engage complementary fastenings (13) on the side of another wall.

Description

• une première face est au moins partiellement ouverte pour une distribution d'air hors du boítier, et
• les cinq autres faces sont chacune fermées par une paroi à quatre côtés, au moins une de ces parois présentant une ouverture pour une alimentation en air du boítier.

The present invention relates to a ventilation air distribution box of parallelepiped shape, comprising six faces, of which

• a first face is at least partially open for air distribution outside the housing, and
• the other five faces are each closed by a wall with four sides, at least one of these walls having an opening for an air supply to the housing.

Distribution boxes of this type have been known for a long time kind, which usually are mounted in a wall or ceiling and are supplied with air behind this wall or ceiling. These boxes redistribute then the air by a grid completely or partially covering said first side.

These boxes currently on the market are mounted in workshop. The various constituent elements are fixed to each other, by example by spot welding, and the housings thus formed are then stored, then subsequently delivered to the user. Enclosures therefore present a large volume of storage and delivery, which is a major economic disadvantage. In addition, they require for their installation special equipment, for example a spot welding.

The object of the present invention is to improve the problems of storage and delivery of these cases, as well as to develop enclosures whose manufacture and assembly of elements do not do not require any tools other than cutting tools, stamping and bending necessarily used for the formation of the elements of the case.

• au moins un côté pourvu d'une gorge qui s'étend en longueur sur au moins une partie dudit au moins un côté et qui est ouverte de façon à y permettre un enfoncement d'un côté d'une autre paroi, disposée perpendiculairement à ladite au moins une paroi, et
• des moyens d'accrochage qui sont prévus à l'intérieur de chaque gorge et qui sont capables de coopérer avec des moyens d'accrochage complémentaires prévus sur ledit côté d'une autre paroi, lors de son enfoncement dans une gorge.

These problems are solved according to the invention by a ventilation air distribution box, as described at the start, at least one of said walls of which comprises

• at least one side provided with a groove which extends in length over at least a part of said at least one side and which is open so as to allow a depression on one side of another wall, arranged perpendicular to said at least one wall, and
• hooking means which are provided inside each groove and which are capable of cooperating with complementary hooking means provided on said side of another wall, when it is inserted into a groove.

By attachment means and attachment means complementary, we can hear according to the invention all means which can be obtained by simple operations of treatment of sheets or metal sheets, either by stamping, stamping, drilling, bending or simple deformation.

In their simplest form, the means of attachment of the throat can be formed by the walls of the throat itself which are tightened towards each other by their own elasticity or a prestressing. Additional attachment means are formed then by the simple thickness of the side of the wall to be pushed into the throat. There is therefore a hooking by pinching.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the means of attachment include holes perforated in each groove and the complementary attachment means of the projections stamped in each side pressed into a groove, these projections penetrating into said orifices when the corresponding side of a wall is inserted in a groove in another wall. We could also plan a reverse arrangement.

Such a housing according to the invention has the enormous advantage of can be assembled by simply sliding on the side of a wall in the corresponding throat. No more soldering or such fixing and assembly can be done on site, just before use.

According to a particular embodiment of the invention, said at least one groove extends in a plane perpendicular to said at at least one of said walls, and said at least one side of said other wall is located in a plane parallel to said other wall.

• une partie de rabat de la paroi correspondante pliée perpendiculairement dans un premier sens par rapport à la paroi,
• une partie de repli de la partie de rabat, qui est pliée perpendiculairement à la paroi dans un deuxième sens opposé au premier, et
• une partie d'extrémité de la partie de repli, qui est à nouveau pliée perpendiculairement à la paroi dans ledit premier sens, en formant ainsi ladite gorge entre la partie de repli et la partie d'extrémité. On peut ainsi avantageusement obtenir par un triple pliage une paroi munie d'une gorge conforme à l'invention. Lorsque le boítier sera assemblé, les gorges de ce genre ne seront pas en saillie hors du boítier, ce qui facilitera le montage et donnera au boítier un aspect esthétiquement acceptable.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, said at least one side provided with a groove comprises

• a flap part of the corresponding wall folded perpendicularly in a first direction with respect to the wall,
• a folding part of the flap part, which is folded perpendicular to the wall in a second direction opposite to the first, and
• an end portion of the fold-back portion, which is again folded perpendicular to the wall in said first direction, thereby forming said groove between the fold-back portion and the end portion. One can thus advantageously obtain by triple folding a wall provided with a groove according to the invention. When the housing is assembled, the grooves of this kind will not protrude from the housing, which will facilitate assembly and give the housing an aesthetically acceptable appearance.

It is understood that the groove can be provided otherwise. She may for example result from a double folding. So, however, the bottom throat will protrude out of the body of the housing.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the housing includes a first wall having a said groove on each of its four sides, the four grooves being open in a same direction, and each of the other walls has a first side, provided with the above complementary attachment means, drive into one of the four grooves in the first wall, a second side adjacent to the first side, provided with a said groove and of its attachment means, to receive and retain one side of a said other walls, and a third side, adjacent to the first side and opposite the second side and provided with hooking means complementary, to be inserted into the throat of one of said others walls. In this embodiment, the first wall forms a cover in the grooves from which the other walls are pressed, these last having both a groove receiving a neighboring wall and a side pressed into a groove in another neighboring wall. The system of assembly is therefore very simple and the elements of the housing are very similar to each other. This results in ease of manufacture, but also storage, since these elements stack easily.

The present invention also relates to a kit for mounting of ventilation air distribution box. This kit comprises said five walls intended to close said other five sides of the housing, stacked one on top of the other.

Other forms of housing or kit following the invention are indicated in the appended claims.

Other details and particularities of the invention will emerge from the description, given below without limitation, with reference to attached drawings.

Figure 1 shows an exploded perspective view of a ventilation air distribution unit according to the invention.

Figure 2 shows a detail of Figure 1 which illustrates the attachment means and additional attachment means walls.

FIG. 3 represents a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, on a side driven into a wall in the groove of a neighboring wall, at level of the hooking means and the hooking means complementary.

Figure 4 shows a view of the housing shown in Figure 1, in the stacked state for storage and transport.

FIG. 5 shows a detail of an alternative embodiment of housing according to the invention.

In the various drawings, identical or analogous elements are designated by the same references.

In Figure 1, there is shown an air distribution box of ventilation 1 of parallelepiped shape, before assembly.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, one of the faces of the case, the bottom one is fully open and is normally closed totally or partially by a grid through which the air distribution in the space to be ventilated is carried out.

Four other faces of the case are each closed by a wall 2 to 5. Wall 2 has an opening 14 from which protrudes a flange 7 allowing the air supply into the housing, by through a conduit not shown.

The housing also includes a wall 6 forming a cover which is located in the example illustrated opposite the open face of the housing. One can also imagine that the collar 7 is arranged in this lid.

In the example illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, the cover 6 is with a groove on each of its four sides. This throat 8 is formed by successive folds, so as to obtain a flap portion 9 folded perpendicularly in a first direction, a folding part 10 of the flap part, which is folded perpendicular to the wall provided with the throat in a second direction, opposite to the first, and a end part 11, again folded perpendicular to the wall in the first sense. The groove 8 is thus formed between the part of fold 10 and the end portion 11, it extends over the entire length of the side of the cover in the example shown and it's open so to allow the insertion of one side of another wall for example 2 or 5, as shown in Figure 2.

Hanging means are provided inside the groove 8, in the example illustrated in the form of cut or perforated orifices 12 in the end portion 11 of the groove. The side to push in other wall, for example 5, is provided with hooking means in the example illustrated in the form of projections 13 stamped in the corresponding wall. During insertion, the projections 13 snap into the holes 12 and then allow a secure fixing of the walls and the housing cover.

In the example illustrated in Figures 1 to 3, each of the others walls 2 to 5 has a first side, provided with hooking projections 13, to be inserted into one of the four grooves 8 of the cover 6, a second side adjacent to the first side, which is itself provided with a groove 8 and its attachment holes 12, for receiving and retaining a side of another wall, and a third side, adjacent to the first side and opposite the second side and provided with hooking projections 13, at sink into the throat of another wall. In this example of embodiment, the grooves 8 of the walls 2 to 5 extend only over one part of the side of these.

This example of a case illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 is advantageously assemble on site.

We can actually stack the different walls 2 to 5 and the cover 6 as shown in FIG. 4. This stacking, for example in the form of a mounting kit, is very little bulky, compared to the volume of a mounted box, and it can easily be stored or transported in large quantities on the same vehicle.

Advantageously, the mounting of the housing takes place only on place, where the case should be fixed. It is then enough to insert the different elements one inside the other according to the arrows indicated on the figure 1.

It should be understood that the present invention is in no way limited to the embodiment described above and that many modifications can be made without departing from the appended claims.

One can for example provide an embodiment such as illustrated in FIG. 5. In this case, the grooves 8 'extend parallel to the plane of the walls and it is the sides to be pushed in that are folded perpendicularly to be inserted into the grooves, in the form of flaps 14.

The cover 6 can be provided with four folded sides of identical to the flaps 14 and the upper side of the walls side 2 to 5 must then be provided with a groove 8 '.

We can also foresee, in other cases, that some of the walls, for example 3 and 5 in FIG. 1, do not have grooves side 8, and that the other two walls 2 and 4 have them, on two opposite sides, grooves 8.

We can also consider, as shown on the cover 6 ' in Figure 5, that the grooves are formed by bending inside the cover and not outside as in Figure 2.

Claims (9)

Ventilation air distribution unit (1) of parallelepiped shape, comprising six faces, of which a first face is at least partially open for air distribution outside the housing, and the other five faces are each closed by a wall (2 to 6) with four sides, at least one (2) of these walls having an opening (14) for an air supply to the housing, characterized in that at least one of said walls has at least one side provided with a groove (8, 8 ') which extends in length over at least a part of said at least one side and which is open so as to allow it to be pushed in from one side to another wall, arranged perpendicular to said at least one wall, and hooking means (12) which are provided inside each groove (8, 8 ') and which are capable of cooperating with complementary hooking means (13) provided on said side of another wall, when sinking into a throat. Housing according to claim 1, characterized in that said at least one groove (8) extends in a plane perpendicular to said at least one of said walls (2 to 6), and in that said at least one side of said other wall is situated in a plane parallel to said other wall. Housing according to claim 1, characterized in that said at least one groove (8 ') extends in a plane parallel to said at at least one of said walls (2, 5, 6) and in that said at least one side of said other wall is folded in a plane perpendicular to said other wall. Housing according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that said at least one side provided with a groove (8) comprises a flap part (9) of the corresponding wall folded perpendicularly in a first direction with respect to the wall, a fold-back part (10) of the flap part (9), which is folded perpendicular to the wall in a second direction opposite to the first, and an end part (11) of the folding part (10), which is again folded perpendicular to the wall in said first direction, thereby forming said groove (8) between the folding part (10) and the part end (11). Housing according to claim 2, characterized in that a wall has a groove (8) above on each of its four sides, the four grooves being open in the same direction. Housing according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that at least one wall has on one of its four sides a said groove (8, 8 ') provided with said means attachment (12) and on at least one other side of said means additional attachment (13), so as to allow insertion of said at least one other side into a groove (8, 8 ') corresponding from another wall. Housing according to claim 2, characterized in that it comprises a first wall (6) having a groove (8) mentioned above each of its four sides, the four grooves (8) being open in one direction, and in that each of the other walls (2 to 5) has a first side, provided with hooking means complementary (13) above, to push into one of the four grooves (8) of the first wall (6), a second side adjacent to the first side, provided with a groove (8) above and its hooking means (12), to receive and retain one side of one of said other walls, and a third side, adjacent to the first side and opposite the second side and provided with additional hooking means (13), to be inserted into the groove (8) of one of said other walls. Housing according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the attachment means comprise holes (12) perforated in each groove and the hooking means complementary to the projections (13) stamped in each depressed side in a groove, these projections (13) penetrating into said orifices (12) when driving the corresponding side of a wall into a throat of another wall. Air distribution box mounting kit ventilation according to any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising said five walls (2 to 6) intended to close said five other faces of the housing (1), stacked one on the other.

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