EP4269899A1

EP4269899A1 - Controlled mechanical ventilation unit

Info

Publication number: EP4269899A1
Application number: EP22382399.8A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Albert Bach-Esteve Burch; Juli FAIG DURAN; Martí Sumarroca Verge
Original assignee: Soler and Palau Research SL
Current assignee: Soler and Palau Research SL
Priority date: 2022-04-27
Filing date: 2022-04-27
Publication date: 2023-11-01

Abstract

The invention relates to a controlled mechanical ventilation unit (1), comprising a polygonal prismatic casing (10) that houses a centrifugal fan (5) to move air from a plurality of air inlets (2, 3) to an air outlet (4) arranged transversely on the sides (11, 12, 21, 22, 31, 32) of the casing (10) and aligned parallel to the bases thereof, the air inlets (2, 3) and the air outlet (4) being able to be connected to respective air ducts, and the air inlets (2, 3) being able to be selectively closed by means of at least one air inlet cover (9). The unit (1) comprises a plurality of air inlets of larger diameter (2) and a plurality of air inlets of smaller diameter (3) such that, between two air inlets of larger diameter (2) and laterally to said two air inlets (2) on one same side, a plurality of air inlets of smaller diameter (3) are arranged.

Description

Technical field

The present invention relates to a controlled mechanical ventilation unit for ventilation systems in buildings. These units enable air to be extracted from different rooms of a building in a controlled manner by sucking the air through a fan. Air is conducted from the rooms to the unit and from the unit to the outside of the building through separate air ducts that are connected to respective air inlets and outlets of the unit.

State of the art

Currently, controlled mechanical ventilation units are widely known, comprising a polygonal prismatic, normally rectangular, casing with a plurality of pairs of sides that are facing each other. The casing houses a centrifugal fan to move air from a plurality of air inlets to one air outlet. Said air inlets and outlets are transversely arranged on the sides of the casing, i.e., passing through said sides.
By means of the centrifugal fan, the air is driven by an impeller that sucks it in through the centre of the unit from the air inlets and expels it through the blades thereof in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the impeller towards the air outlet. The centrifugal fan is arranged in the polygonal prismatic casing with the rotation axis of the fan parallel to the straight sides or lateral faces thereof, i.e., perpendicular to the upper and lower faces of the casing.
These units are fixed to the ceiling, wall or, more commonly, inside the false ceilings of homes. The prismatic shape of the casing with the inlets and outlets arranged on the sides or lateral faces of the casing makes these units particularly suitable for their installation in false ceilings. This is due to the fact that the casing can be designed with a height-adjusted shape to fit into the false ceiling, at the same time that the areas located laterally to the unit are released, facilitating the installation of the corresponding air ducts, as well as electrical and/or electronics connections to connect to the unit.
Known controlled mechanical ventilation units of this type comprise a plurality of air inlets and one air outlet. Normally one of the air inlets has a larger diameter than the rest of the air inlets, the air inlet of larger diameter being designed to ventilate the kitchen of homes, since the required ventilation thereof is more demanding than for the rest of the rooms, for which all or some of the other air inlets are used. The air inlets that are not used in the installation are closed or covered.
These units have the drawback that since the unit is installed with a predetermined orientation in an installation plane (about an axis parallel to the rotation axis of the fan), the corresponding air ducts, as well as the electrical and/or electronic connection cables of the unit to be brought to the corresponding rooms or connection points are forced to cross each other, making it difficult to install the unit. In addition, the presence of intersecting ducts leads to other problems such as the loss of efficiency of the ventilation system, due to the pressure drop generated in the crossings or the waste of the space available for the unit to be installed.
The object of the present invention is to provide a controlled mechanical ventilation unit that makes it possible to overcome the drawbacks that currently existing solutions present, as described. The invention provides a mechanical ventilation unit that is versatile, compact, efficient in operation and simplified in installation.

Object of the invention

In order to fulfil this objective, in addition to providing additional advantages that can be derived later, the present invention provides a controlled mechanical ventilation unit comprising a casing. The casing is polygonal prismatic in shape, i.e., it comprises a plurality of sides, preferably straight, that define the contour of the casing and two bases, front and rear, preferably flat. The casing houses a centrifugal fan to move air from a plurality of air inlets to one air outlet. Said air inlets and air outlet are transversely arranged on the sides of the casing, i.e., going through said sides, and aligned according to a direction parallel to the bases of the casing. This configuration of the unit makes it easy to install the unit in narrow spaces such as false ceilings in homes.
For the use of the ventilation unit, the air inlets and the air outlet are able to be connected, directly or by means of connectors, to respective air ducts of the ventilation installation. The air inlets that are not used can be selectively closed by means of at least one air inlet cover, each cover closing a selected air inlet. The air inlet covers can be placed on or removed from selected air inlets to respectively disable or use the corresponding air inlet by leaving it closed or open.
The air inlet covers may be separate parts of the casing that are able to be connected to the casing to close the corresponding inlet, for example, by threading the cover around a mouth of the air inlet or by snapping the cover onto the mouth. It is envisaged that the unit may comprise the air inlet covers, for example, the covers being supplied with the same unit, or the covers being supplied separately.
In this way, depending on the installation of the unit in each home, the air inlets that are not going to be used can be closed, making it possible for one same unit to be used for different ventilation configurations in different homes. Thus, for example, the same ventilation unit can be used to ventilate homes with a different number of rooms, corresponding to each of the air inlets of the unit.
According to the invention, the controlled mechanical ventilation unit comprises a plurality of air inlets of larger diameter and a plurality of inlets of smaller diameter, the latter having a smaller diameter than the former. Additionally, the air inlets of the unit are arranged on the sides of the casing such that, between two air inlets of larger diameter and laterally to said two air inlets on one same side, a plurality of air inlets of smaller diameter are arranged. In other words, the unit comprises a plurality of air inlets of smaller diameter between said inlets of larger diameter around the casing, on at least one of the two possible sides between the two inlets of larger diameter, according to each of the two possible path directions around the casing from one of said inlets.
By having two or more air inlets of smaller diameter, in particular, all the air inlets being of smaller diameter, between said two air inlets of larger diameter, the freedom to position the unit with different orientations in the installation plane (about an axis parallel to the rotation axis of the fan) is increased. This is due to the fact that it is possible to select an orientation between at least two orientations corresponding to the use of one or the other of the two inlets of larger diameter, being able to disable the other inlet of larger diameter by covering the same.
Thus, in the installation of the ventilation unit, the air inlet of larger diameter (normally intended for the kitchen in a home) that is of interest can be selected from among said two air inlets of larger diameter depending on the location of the air outlet, disabling the other air inlet by closing the same by means of an air inlet cover of larger diameter. In this way it is possible to avoid possible crossings of air ducts, electrical and/or electronic connection cables of the unit to be taken to the corresponding rooms or connection points.
Preferably, it is envisaged that said two air inlets of larger diameter between which a plurality of air inlets of smaller diameter are arranged are arranged on respective sides of the casing that are facing each other. Facing sides are understood, in a plan view, as those where for each of the two facing sides, at least one of the lines perpendicular to the side drawn by one of the two vertexes thereof intersects with the opposite side.
By arranging said two inlets on facing sides of the casing, the angular distance between the directions for connecting to the air inlets increases for each of said two air inlets, further reducing the possibilities of crossing connection ducts.
In particular, the sides that are facing each other may further be substantially parallel to each other and/or substantially have the same length (plan view). Likewise, it is envisaged that the casing comprises a plurality of pairs of sides that are facing each other, which further facilitates the connection to all the air inlets. These configurations provide greater compactness to the casing and therefore a better use of the available space for the installation of the unit.
Also preferably, it has been provided that the sums of the diameters of the air inlets on the respective sides of at least one of said pairs of facing sides are the same and, more particularly, that all the air inlets arranged on the respective sides of said pair of facing sides are of equal diameter and the respective sides have the same number of air inlets.
Advantageously, this configuration enables the unit to be installed for a wide variety of room layouts and ventilation requirements by having a variety of conveniently distributed air inlets of different diameters, facilitating the connection of the corresponding air ducts, as well as electrical and/or electronic connections.
Additionally, the air inlets are conveniently distributed around the centrifugal fan, which provides a more homogeneously distributed air flow towards the fan and therefore more adequate operation of the unit regardless of the rooms that are ventilated.
Preferably, it has been provided that the sides adjacent to at least one of the sides where the two air inlets of larger diameter are arranged form obtuse angles with this side, i.e., interior angles of the polygon formed by the casing of more than 90°. In this way, greater freedom of orientation of the unit in different directions on the plane thereof that is perpendicular to the rotation axis of the fan is achieved, by being able to direct the corresponding air ducts with a greater available direction angle, avoiding crossing ducts.
According to the invention, it is envisaged that the unit is exclusively provided with one air outlet, although it is not ruled out that it may have more than one air outlet. Likewise, other possible embodiments are envisaged, such as, for example, that the air inlets of the unit may have exclusively two different diameters, that all the sides of the casing may be facing each other two by two and/or that the casing may comprise more than two pairs of facing sides.

Description of the figures

The following figures are attached to this description, which serve to illustrate a preferred embodiment, as well as different practical embodiments according to the invention, by way of illustration and not limitation. According to the invention, multiple embodiments are possible as defined in the attached claims.

Figure 1 shows a plan view of a preferred embodiment of the unit according to the invention.
Figure 2 shows a cross-sectional plan view of the unit according to the embodiment shown in Figure 1, through a median plane perpendicular to the rotation axis of the centrifugal fan.
Figure 3 shows a perspective view of the unit according to the embodiment shown in the preceding figures, wherein one of the inlets of smaller diameter appears closed or covered to disable it by means of a cover.
Figure 4 shows a perspective view of the unit according to the embodiment shown in the preceding figures, wherein one of the inlets of larger diameter appears closed or covered to disable it by means of a cover.

Detailed description of the invention

As can be seen in the figures, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the controlled mechanical ventilation unit (1) comprises a polygonal prismatic casing (10), in this hexagonal embodiment. The casing (10) has a plurality of pairs of sides that are facing each other, in this embodiment three pairs of facing sides (11, 12; 21, 22; 31, 32).
The casing (10) houses a centrifugal fan (5) to move air from a plurality of air inlets (2, 3), which in this embodiment are eight in total, to a single air outlet (4), said air inlets (2, 3) and air outlet (4) being transversely arranged on the sides (11, 12, 21, 22, 31, 32) of the casing (10).
The number of air inlets of larger diameter (2) is two and one is arranged on each of the facing sides (11) and (12). The number of air inlets of smaller diameter (3) is six, two of them being arranged on each one of the facing sides (31) and (32) and one of them on each one of the facing sides (21) and (22). The air outlet (4) is arranged on the side (21) facing the side (22) where an electrical and/or electronic connection (6) of the unit (1) is also arranged, for respectively connecting the unit (1) to an external electrical power supply and/or for transmitting electronic signals, and/or a handle (8) for facilitating the handling of the unit (1).
As can be seen in Figures 1 and 2, according to the embodiment shown in the figures, between the two air inlets of larger diameter (2) and laterally to said two air inlets (2) there are three air inlets of smaller diameter (3), on each of the two possible sides.
As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the unit (1) can include covers (9) for air inlets or outlets, to cover the respective air inlets or outlets that are not going to be used. Figure 3 shows a cover (9) for the air inlet of smaller diameter. Figure 4 shows a cover (9) for the air inlet of larger diameter.
According to the embodiment shown, the sums of the diameters of the air inlets (2; 3) of the respective sides of each and every one of the pairs of facing sides (11, 12; 21, 22; 31, 32) are equal, said sums of the diameters of the air inlets (2; 3) being different for the different pairs of facing sides (11, 12; 21, 22; 31, 32).
More specifically, in the embodiment shown in the figures, all the air inlets (2; 3) arranged on the sides of each and every one of the pairs of facing sides (11, 12; 21, 22; 31, 32) are of equal diameter and said sides of each pair of facing sides (11, 12; 21, 22; 31, 32) have the same number of air inlets (2; 3), the diameter of the air inlets (2; 3) or the number of air inlets (2; 3) being different for the different pairs of facing sides (11, 12; 21, 22; 31, 32).
Thus, as shown in the figures, each side of the pair of facing sides (11) and (12) has a single air inlet of larger diameter (2), each pair of facing sides (21) and (22) has a single air inlet of smaller diameter (3) and each pair of facing sides (31) and (32) has two air inlets of smaller diameter (3). For example, the diameter of the air inlets of larger diameter (2) is 125 mm, while the diameter of the air inlets of smaller diameter (3) is 80 mm and the diameter of the air outlet (4) is also 125 mm.
As the figures further show, it has been provided that the two air inlets of larger diameter (2) are arranged on the respective sides of said pair of facing sides (11, 12) that form obtuse angles with the adjacent sides (21, 32; 22, 31) thereof. In this way, it is achieved that the air ducts to be connected to the air inlets of larger diameter (usable for kitchens) can be directed in different directions covering a wide angle from the respective sides (11) and (12).
To increase the compactness of the unit (1) it is envisaged, as the figures show, that the sides (11, 12) where the inlets of larger diameter (2) are arranged do not have other air inlets (3) or outlet (4).
According to the invention, it is also possible to increase the compactness of the unit (1) and/or simplify the installation thereof by incorporating some of the following features.
For example, as the embodiment of the figures show, an electrical and/or electronic connection (6) can be arranged on a side (22) facing the side (21) where an air outlet (4) is arranged.
The sides of at least one of the pairs of facing sides (11, 12; 21, 22; 31, 32) may be sides substantially parallel to each other. In the embodiment shown in the figures, all the facing sides (11, 12; 21, 22; 31, 32) are parallel to each other.
The casing (10) may comprise sides (21, 31; 22, 32) that are substantially perpendicular to each other. In the embodiment shown in the figures, the sides (21) and (31) as well as the sides (22) and (32) are perpendicular to each other.
Likewise, it has been provided that the sum of the diameters of all the inlets (2, 3) and the outlet (4) of one side (11; 12; 21; 22; 31; 32) is preferably greater than or equal to 0.5 times the length of the side, more preferably greater than or equal to 0.8 times the length of the side. For the embodiment shown in the figures, this is fulfilled for the sides (11), (12), (21), (31) and (32).
Preferably, the lengths of the sides of at least one of the pairs of facing sides (11, 12; 21, 22; 31, 32) are substantially equal. In the embodiment shown in the figures, the lengths of the respective sides of all the pairs of facing sides (11, 12; 21, 22; 31, 32) are equal.
Based on this preferred embodiment that has been described by way of example, other suitable embodiments in terms of compactness of the unit (1) as well as simplicity of the installation thereof can be obtained, with a hexagonal prismatic casing with three pairs of facing sides that are substantially parallel to each other. For example, suitable embodiments have been envisaged wherein the lengths of the sides (L1, L2, L3) of each pair of facing sides are equal and the lengths of the sides of different pairs are different, which fulfil the conditions 0.5·L1 ≤ L2 ≤ L1, and 0.3·L1 ≤ L3 ≤ 0.8.L1, wherein L1 is the length of the longest side.
The casing of the unit (1) is built, for example, by means of a lower covering that incorporates the sides (11, 12, 21, 22, 31, 32) of the casing (10) and inside of which the centrifugal fan (5) is arranged, and an upper covering (7) that closes the assembly. These parts that make up the casing (10) as well as the covers (9) can be obtained, for example, by means of plastic injection moulding.

Claims

A controlled mechanical ventilation unit (1), comprising a polygonal prismatic casing (10) that houses a centrifugal fan (5) to move air from a plurality of air inlets (2, 3) to an air outlet (4) arranged transversely on the sides (11, 12, 21, 22, 31, 32) of the casing (10) and aligned parallel to the bases thereof, the air inlets (2, 3) and the air outlet (4) being able to be connected to respective air ducts, and the air inlets (2, 3) being able to be selectively closed by means of at least one air inlet cover (9), characterised in that it comprises a plurality of air inlets of larger diameter (2) and a plurality of air inlets of smaller diameter (3) such that, between two air inlets of larger diameter (2) and laterally to said two air inlets (2) on one same side, a plurality of air inlets of smaller diameter (3) are arranged.
The controlled mechanical ventilation unit (1), according to claim 1, characterised in that all the air inlets between said two air inlets of larger diameter (2) are of smaller diameter (3).
The controlled mechanical ventilation unit (1), according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said two air inlets of larger diameter (2) are arranged on respective sides (11, 12) of the casing (10) that are facing each other.
The controlled mechanical ventilation unit (1), according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the casing (10) has a plurality of pairs of sides (11, 12; 21, 22; 31, 32) that are facing each other.
The controlled mechanical ventilation unit (1), according to claim 4, characterised in that the sums of the diameters of the air inlets (2; 3) of the respective sides of at least one of said pairs of facing sides (11, 12; 21, 22; 31, 32) are equal.
The controlled mechanical ventilation unit (1), according to claim 5, characterised in that all the air inlets (2; 3) arranged on the respective sides of said pair of facing sides are of equal diameter and the respective sides have the same number of air inlets (2; 3).
The controlled mechanical ventilation unit (1), according to one of claims 3 to 6, characterised in that the sides of at least one of the pairs of sides (11, 12; 21, 22; 31, 32) of the casing (10) that are facing each other are sides substantially parallel to each other.
The controlled mechanical ventilation unit (1), according to one of claims 3 to 7, characterised in that the lengths of the sides of at least one of the pairs of facing sides (11, 12; 21, 22; 31, 32) are substantially equal.
The controlled mechanical ventilation unit (1), according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the sides (21, 32; 22, 31) adjacent to at least one of the sides (11, 12) where said two air inlets of larger diameter (2) are arranged form obtuse angles with this side (11, 12).
The controlled mechanical ventilation unit (1), according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that at least one side (11, 12) where an air inlet of larger diameter (2) is arranged does not have other air inlets (2, 3) or outlet (4).
The controlled mechanical ventilation unit (1), according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it comprises an electrical and/or electronic connection (6) that is arranged on a side (22) facing the side (21) where the air outlet (4) is arranged.
The controlled mechanical ventilation unit (1), according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the casing (10) comprises adjacent sides (21, 31; 22, 32) that are substantially perpendicular to each other.
The controlled mechanical ventilation unit (1), according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the sum of the diameters of all the air inlets (2, 3) and outlet (4) on one side (11; 12; 21; 22; 31; 32) is greater than or equal to 0.5 times the length of the side, preferably greater than or equal to 0.8 times the length of the side.
The controlled mechanical ventilation unit (1), according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the casing (10) is hexagonal.
The controlled mechanical ventilation unit (1), according to claim 14, characterised in that the lengths (L1, L2, L3) of sides of the casing (10) that are facing each other are equal and fulfil the conditions 0.5·L1 ≤ L2 ≤ L1 and 0.3·L1 ≤ L3 ≤ 0.8·L1, wherein L1 is the length of the longest side.