GB2153066A - Air distributor - Google Patents

Abstract

A free-standing column 1 is mounted on a floor and extends at least to normal head level. Air, normally below ambient temperature, is directed laterally outwards from the interior of the upper end portion of the column 1. The column 1 can be mounted on a base member 19 interchangeable with floor panels 22 of a platform floor and can communicate with an air supply below the floor. The top portion 3 of the column may accommodate a light fitting. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Air distributor This invention relates to the distribution of air into a room, the air normally being below ambient temperature. The invention is particularly applicable to air conditioning systems in which the space below a platform floor (consisting of floor panels supported on pedestals) is used to accommodate air supply ducting or to serve as an air distribution plenum.

With platform floors it is conventional to introduce conditioned air through vents in selected floor panels. If cold air is introduced, there is the disadvantage that the cold air does not readily mix with the warm air in the upper regions of the room, creates an unpleasant draught near floor level, and therefore sets up an uncomfortable temperature distribution due to stratification. Of course, it is well know to introduce conditioned air through ducts in the ceiling or walls, but such installations take up extra space and do not have the flexibility of floor vents, which can be provided in interchangeable floor panels.

Situations can arise in which it is impracticable to provide air vents in the ceiling or walls.

With the aim of overcoming these disadvantages, the present invention provides an air distributor for distributing air into a room, the distributor comprising a free-standing column for mounting on the floor so as to extend at least to normal head level, the upper end portion of the column having means for discharging air from the interior of the column.

Such a distributor can provide the flexibility of a floor vent and, without taking up ceiling space, wall space, or more floor space, allows cold air to be introduced at an optimum level.

The cold air, being denser than the ambient warm air, tends to fall towards the floor, thereby promoting air circulation and facilitating the achievement of an even temperature distribution. The air is preferably directed laterally outwardly from the column.

Another advantage of the distributor is that the upper end of the column can include a light fitting (known as an uplighter) for directing light upwards in order to provide diffuse illumination by reflection from the ceiling.

This achieves a space saving by making a separate uplighter redundant. Furthermore, since the electrical supply for the light fitting can pass up the column from floor level and ceiling-mounted lighting installations are rendered unnecessary, the electrical services can for the most part be confined to the floor cavity alone. Thus, when using a platform floor, all the services (heating, air conditioning, water, electrical supply, etc.) can be made readily accessible through the floor panels.

The air distributor is primarily (but not solely) intended for use on a platform floor, in which case it will preferably occupy at most the space of one floor panel. (There may, however, be circumstances in which the column will occupy the space of two or more floor panels.) In platform floors (also known as raised floors, floating floors, and suspended floors) the standard size of floor panel is 600 mm square; thus it is preferable for the bottom of the column to lie within the confines a 600 mm square. The column may be fixed to a base member adapted to be incorporated into a platform floor and to be supported by pedestals, the outline of the base member preferably not exceeding a 600 mm square; of course, the base member may simply comprise a floor panel.

The invention further provides an air distribution system comprising at least one distributor as described above, and a platform floor composed of floor panels supported on pedestals, the column being mounted on a base member which is interchangeable with at least one floor panel and communicating through the base member with an air supply below the floor.

Furthermore, the invention thus provides a method of distributing air from a supply below a floor, in which the air is supplied through the floor into a free-standing column extending at least to normal head level and the air is discharged from the upper end portion of the column.

The air supply may be a plenum chamber defined below the floor, or ducting below the floor, for example. Some of the floor panels may contain vents for warm air.

In a preferred embodiment. the column (which may for example be in the form of a prism or cylinder) is hollow and defines air ducting extending from the bottom of the column to the air discharging means. Preferably the column defines a single upwardly directed air duct, and the air discharging means comprises an upwardly diverging member (e.g. an inverted pyramid or cone), onto which air rising in the duct impinges and is thereby diverted into a plurality of lateral directions, and lateral outlet means for the diverted air.

Although it is preferable for the air to be directed outwards all round the column, there may be situations in which it is desirable to restrict the outlet direction or directions to a given sector of the periphery. The air is preferably directed obliquely upwards, which has the advantage of supplying the cold air initially to the highest region of the room, above the heads of the occupants, even though the air may leave the column at face level, for instance. The above-described upwardlydiverging member, in conjunction with simple outlet apertures, achieves an obliquely upwardly directed air flow. In addition or instead, the outlet means may comprise flowdirecting flaps, which may be fixed or mov able; it may also be convenient to provide means for closing the outlet means partially or totally.

The column may be of any convenient cross-sectional shape, such as triangular, square, rectangular, hexagonal, oval, or circular, for example. A construction which has the virtue of simplicity comprises upstanding panels (plane or convex, for example) whose upper edges lie below the top of the column, upstanding elongate frame members which conceal the side edges of the panels, and a top portion supported by the upstanding frame members and spaced above the upper edges of the panels, thereby to leave outlet apertures for the air. One or more of the upstanding frame members may define a conduit communicating between a lower end portion of the column and the top portion, e.g.

for carrying an electrical cable from the floor to an uplighter in the top portion.

The invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side elevation of an air distributor; Figure 2 is a vertical section, showing the air distributor mounted on a platform floor; Figure 3 is a plan view of the air distributor; and Figure 4 is an enlarged horizontal section through one corner of the air distributor.

The air distributor illustrated comprises a column 1 which is 1 800 mm high and 340 mm square. The column has a metal frame (e.g. of above enamelled steel or aluminium) comprising a square bottom portion 2 and a square top portion 3 (each 100 mm deep) connected together at the corners by four angle-section members 4 which conceal and support the side edges of four panels 6 which may be transparent, translucent, or opaque and may be of glass, plastics, wood, or composite material, for example. In one embodiment the panels 6 are of clear glass 6 mm thick and the inside of the lower part is sprayed with a translucent or opaque material.

The upper edge 7 of each panel 6 is ground and is spaced about 1 50 mm below the top portion 3 so as to leave an air outlet 8 at each side of the column; the lower edge is supported by a stud 9. The panels are held in each corner by angle-section elements 11 fixed by bolts 1 2 to nuts 1 3 which are welded to the angle-section members 4, the arrangement being such that a conduit 14 is defined within the angle of each member 4.

At the bottom the column 1 has an anglesection frame 1 6, one flange of which fits in the bottom frame portion 2 and has vertical slots 1 7 cooperating with bolts 1 8 for fixing and vertical alignment of the column; the other flange projects horizontally from the bottom of the column and can be screwed down to a floor panel 1 9 having an aperture 21 in register with the internal space of the column. The floor panel 1 9 is interchangeable with other (unapertured) floor panels 22, which are 600 mm square, all the floor panels together forming a platform floor and being supported by pedestals (not shown).

Air is supplied under pressure to the underfloor void or to underfloor ducting and (as shown by the arrow 23) passes through the aperture 21 (preferably provided with an air damper 24) into the column 1. As the air flow approaches the outlets 8 it is distributed to them and diverted obliquely upwards (as shown by the arrows 26) by an upwardly diverging member 27 in the form of an inverted pyramid suspended from the top frame portion 3; the member 27 may instead be conical or hemispherical, for example. As a result, most of the air flow will initially rise to above head height. The air flow, normally colder than the ambient air, will mix with the warm air in the upper regions of the room and the resulting mixture of cooler air will descend, producing beneficial air circulation.Although it is primarily intended that the air supplied should be cold, it is possible to use the air distributor for introducing conditioned air at or above ambient temperature, or warm air for heating; however, it is far preferable for such air to be introduced at lower levels, e.g.

through separate air vents in the floor or possibly through special warm air vents (not shown) in the lower part of the column.

The top frame portion 3 serves as a tray which accommodates an uplighter (not shown) which may be fitted with a metal halide bulb, for example. The uplighter is connected to an electrical supply below the floor by a cable 28 passing down the conduit 1 4 in one of the corners of the column 1. The upwardly diverging member 27 may be hollow in order to accommodate the uplighter.

Various modifications may be made within the scope of the invention. For example, instead of serving merely as ducting for air supplied to it, the column could have a selfcontained air-conditioner which would draw in air from the surroundings and discharge the conditioned air through the outlets 8.

Claims (11)

1. An air distributor for distributing air into a room, the distributor comprising a freestanding column for mounting on the floor so as to extend at least to normal head level, the upper end portion of the column having means for discharging air from the interior of the column.

2. An air distributor as claimed in claim 1, in which the column defines internal air ducting extending from the bottom of the column to the air discharging means.

3. An air distributor as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the column defines a single upwardly-directed air duct, and in which the air discharging means comprises an upwardly diverging member, onto which air rising in the duct impinges and is thereby diverted into a plurality of lateral directions, and lateral outlet means for the diverted air.

4. An air distributor as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the air discharging means directs the air obliquely upwards.

5. An air distributor as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the upper end of the column accommodates a light fitting for directing light upwards.

6. An air distributor as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the column comprises upstanding panels whose upper edges lie below the top of the column, upstanding elongate frame members which conceal the side edges of the panels and which extend above the panels, and a top portion supported by the upstanding frame members and spaced above the upper edges of the panels.

7. An air distributor as claimed in claim 6, in which at least one of the upstanding frame members defines a conduit communicating between a lower end portion of the column and the top portion.

8. An air distributor as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the bottom of the column lies within the confines of a 600 mm square.

9. An air distributor as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the column is fixed to a base member adapted to be incorporated in a platform floor and to be supported by pedestals of the platform floor.

1 0. An air distributor as claimed in claim 9, in which the outline of the base member is a 600 mm square.

11. An air distributor system comprising at least one distributor as claimed in any preceding claim and a platform composed of floor panels supported on pedestals, the column being mounted on a base member which is interchangeable with at least one floor panel and communicating through the base member with an air supply below the floor.

1 2. A method of distributing air from a supply below a floor, in which the air is supplied through the floor into a free-standing column extending at least to normal head level and the air is discharged from the upper end portion of the column.

1 3. An air distributor substantially as described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.

1 4. An air distribution system substantially as described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.

1 5. A method of distributing air substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.