US1966275A

US1966275A - Method of and apparatus for

Info

Publication number: US1966275A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1934-07-10
Anticipated expiration: 1951-07-10

Description

y 1934. A. F. WRIGHT METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING AIR Filed July 12, 1953 Patented .Fuiy 1Q, 1934.

UNITED STATES METHOD OF AND CONDITIO Archibald F. Wright,

APPARATUS FOR NING AIR South Orange, N. J.

Application July 12, 1933, Serial No. 679,996

6 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus and process for conditioning air for industrial, domestic and for any other purpose where desired. By use of this method and apparatus a reasonable cooling comfort and ventilation can be had in summer, and heating, humidifying and ventilating can be had in winter. The apparatus is automatically controlled, so that the desired or required conditions can be obtained and maintained.

One object of my invention is the provision of a method and apparatus whereby air may be cooled for maintaining a chamber cooler than the surrounding atmosphere.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a method and apparatus whereby the humidity of a chamber may be changed and maintained at the desired percentage.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a relatively small and compact device which is cheap to install and cheap to operate.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as may hereinafter appear, this invention consists in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts and the methods hereinafter described and then sought to be defined in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, and which shows merely for the 80 purpose of illustrative disclosure, a preferred embodiment of my invention, it being expressly understood, however, that various changes may be made in practice within the scope of the claims without digressing from my inventive idea.

Referring now to the drawing:

Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal vertical cross section of an air conditioner;

Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal horizontal cross section taken substantially on line 2--2 of 40 Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 represents a detail showing the damper in reversed position to permit the air to mix and exit at one place.

In the drawing the reference character 10 designates a casing provided with an inlet 12 and

outlets

14 and 15. The outlet 14 comprises the grilled opening 16. The outlet 15 comprises grilled opening 17 through which the humid air passes from the apparatus and is exhausted into the air by an exhaust conduit or the like (not shown) when the device is used to cool air. The outlets are separated by a damper 18 which may be operated by the handle 20 or any other suitable means. Positioned adjacent the inlet 12 is a fan 22 which is adapted to draw like so as to air into the casi air chamber 23.

air louvres or. air are adjustable by ng 10 through the inlet and into In the path of the incoming baiiles 24 are provided which means of the handle 26 or any other suitable means so as to vary the amount of air being passed through the louvres. The louvres or baille plates are adjusted so as to deflect only a portion of the air from air chamber 23 and the remaining portion of the air passes downwardly into the bottom portion 28 of the it is desired to heat the second air, a heating element 30 is propositioned in the path of travel portion of the air.

vided which is of the second element as sh eat being supplied to the ment is go verned by magnetic valve be conditioned and operation of the causes magnetic valve 33 to function.

Within the casing 10 a tube chamber 36 is provided having the upper partition 38 and lower partition 40 connected by tubes 42. An upper er 44 is provided which communicates with ttom portion 28 of the casing 10 by means 86' of the tubes 42. It is to be noted that in its vertical position, damper 18 forms one end of chamber 44. These tubes may be made of relatively thin wall material, such as copper metal or the permit rapid heat transfers. If de- 90 sired, the tubes may be corrugated to present larger heat exchanging surfaces or may be rifled to give the air in the tubes a swirling motion to insure constant moving of the air and intimate contact with the tubes. I may also use fins on the tubes to assist in the heat exchanging operations. Positioned in the tube chamber 36 adjacent the adjustable louvres or air baflles 24 are the spray heads 46 which are connected to the water pump 48 by means of pipes 50. A water supply pipe 51 is provided. These spray heads are positioned at each side of the casing and spray the water streams upwardly and toward each other as minute particles or as a fine mist into the air entering the tube chamber. When the water is sprayed into the air, some of the water is evaporated. This evaporation extracts heat from the air and lowers the temperature of the air. This cooler air entering tube chamber 36 contacts the exterior of tubes 42 thermostat and cools the air in the interior of the tubes. Due to this action the heat in the air in the tubes will be transferred to the air on the outside of the tubes and more water is evaporated to further cool the outer air. This exchange of heat continues while the air passes through tube chamber 36. The water pump 48 is operated to deliver water at the required pressure to pipes 50 by motor 52. The current to the motor 52 is controlled by magnetic switch 53 which in turn is controlled by humidostat 54 that is located in the chamber in which the air is to be conditioned. From the above it will be apparent that the device functions automatically because the thermostat 34 regulates the heating element and humidostat 54 regulates the amount of water being delivered to spray heads 46.

When the device is used to humidify the air and with the damper in the position shown in Fig. 1, it is necessary to provide means to catch drops of water which may be carried by the air passing through the tube chamber 36. At the rear end of the device and on the back wall the water combs 60 are provided to prevent drops of water from passing out with the outgoing humidified air. Positioned beneath the water combs 60 is a drip pan 62. It is to be noted that, drip pan 62 shuts off chamber 63 from the rest of the interior of casing 10 so that inspection of pump 48 and motor 52 may be made without stopping the operation of the device. A drip pan 64 is also provided beneath the water heads 46. Also a drip pan may be provided for the bottom chamber 28 of casing 10, but such drip pan has not been shown in the drawing.

The operation of the device will now be given when it is desired to cool air in the summer time and deliver it to a room, chamber or the like. The damper 18 is put in the position shown in Fig. 1. The humidostat 54 may be disconnected so that the water pump will be continually operated. The heating element 30 is shut off so that no heat is added to the air. 'Ihe fan 22 is operated and draws in air through the opening or inlet 12 into air chamber 23. "One portion of the air passes through louvres or air baflles 24 which have been adjusted to permit a certain volume of the air to pass into tube chamber 36. The other portion of the air passes downwardly into the lower portion or chamber 28 of casing 10 and up through the interior of tubes 42. The first portion of the air passing into tube chamber 361s charged with water from the spray heads 46, the waterbelng intheformof afinemistandinfine particles so that a maximum amount of surface is presented and a relatively large volume of water is evaporated. A certain amount of the water is vaporized by the mixing of the air and spray which extracts heat from the air and this causes a lowering of the temperature of the air due to evaporation. This cooled air and any residual amount of fine water spray contact with the exterior of the tubes 42 where a heat exchange is made from the air in the tubes to the cooler air on the outside of the tubes. This results in warming of the cooler exterior air so that further evaporation of the fine water spray in the air is effected, thereby again lowering the temperature of the exterior air. These heat exchanges continue to take place while the air is passing through the tube chamber 36. The humid exterior air is passed through the tube chamber 36 and out through grilled opening 17 of outlet 15. The cooled air within the tubes 42 passes up through the tubes into upper chamber 44 and leaves the apparatus through the grilled opening 16 of outlet 14 and is permitted to mix with the air in the chamber to be cooled.

' In the winter when it is desired to heat and humidify the air in a room, chamber or the like, damper 18 is placed in the position shown in Fig. 3 so as to permit mixing of the two portions of the air which have passed on the exterior of the tubes and the interior of the tubes as these two portions are leaving the apparatus. In this position the damper 18 closes the openings 17 in the outlet 15 so that the divided streams are adapted to unite and leave the apparatus as one stream. The thermostat may be set at any desired figure, as, for example, 70 F. and the humidostat may be set at any figure, as, for example, 40% relative humidity. The steam or other heating means used for heating element 30 is controlled by the thermostat. The thermostat will maintain the desired temperature by controlling the magnetic valve 33 of the heating element and the humidostat will maintain the required relative humidity by controlling the motor 52 and water pump 48. Air is drawn into the casing and is divided into two portions, the one portion passing through the louvres or air baiiles 24 and into tube chamber 36 and being mixed with the water spray, and the other portion passing over the heating element 30 where it is heated and then passed through the interior of the tubes 42. 05 The heated drier air passing through the interior of the tubes is mixed in the upper chamber 44 with the humid cooled air passing around the exterior of the tubes in the tube chamber and the mixture passes out of the device as a single stream through the outlet 14. In this way the air in the room, chamber or the like is given the proper temperature and correct humidity. The thermostat and humidostat function automatically to bring about the desired conditions.

In air conditioning for industries the apparatus and method above set forth may be used to humidify, cool and ventilate and also to condition products and materials. Products and materials such as furniture, leather, tobacco, etc. may be m kept or stored at the right temperature and right humidity. For this operation and for commercial humidifying, the damper 18 is in the position shown in Fig. 1. However, in this work the humid air on the exterior of the tubes 42 and in the tube-chamber 36 is more essential than the cooled air so that the humid air leaving outlet 15 is conducted to the chamber or room where the air conditioning is desired. The humidostat and thermostat may be set at any desired figure to m produce the results desired or sought.

If fresh air is desired instead of recirculating room air the fan 22 may be connected to the outside air and the air filtered and cleaned before entering the apparatus.

My invention is also adapted for use on moving vehicles such as automobiles, buses, railroad coaches, Pullmans and the like. For such use, however, it is necessary to provide a water reservoir for supplying water to the spray heads.

From the above it will be apparent that I have disclosed a relatively simple and compact device and a new method for cooling, humidifying, and conditioning air and ventilating rooms, chambers and the like.

What I claim is:

1. A method of conditioning air, which comprises, spraying water into air to allow partial evaporation of the water and cooling of the air,

conducting the cooled air into contact with relatively thin tubes containing air to be cooled so that the heat in the air in the tubes will be transferred to the air on the outside of the tubes, then causing further evaporation of water to cool the outside air, and then contacting the rela ively thin tubes with the cooled air to extract heat from the warmer air inside the tubes and cool the air inside the tubes.

2. A device of the character described, including, in combination, a casing having an inlet and an outlet, fan means for drawing in air into said casing and forcing it therethrough, means for dividing the air into two streams, a plurality of. tubes in said casing, means for adding water to one stream of air to raise the water content thereof, means for heating the other stream of air. said first stream passing around said tubes and said second stream passing through said tubes, a chamber above said tubes for mixing the two streams of treated air and permitting the mixture to pass into a room or the like.

3. A device of the character described, including, in combination, a casing having an inlet and an outlet, fan means for drawing air into said casing and forcing it therethrough, means for dividing the air into two streams, a plurality of tubes in said casing, means for adding water to one stream of air to raise the water content thereof, means for heating the other stream of air, and a chamber above said tubes for mixing the two streams of treated air and permitting the mixture to pass into a room or the like.

4. A device of the character described for conditioning air or the like, including, in combination, a casing having an inlet and an outlet, fan means for drawing air into said casing and forcing it therethrough, means whereby the air is divided into two streams, a plurality of tubes in said casing, means for spraying water as a fine mist into one stream to cause the cooling of such stream on the exterior of the tubes, and means whereby the cooled stream is indirectly contacted with the other stream of air within the tubes to cool the other stream without adding water thereto.

5. A device of the character described, including, in combination, a casing having an inlet and an outlet, fan means for drawing air into said casing and forcing it therethrough, means for dividing the air into two streams, a plurality of tubes in said casing, means for adding water to one stream of air to raise the water content thereof, means for heating the other stream or air, said first stream passing around said tubes and said second stream passing through said tubes, a chamber above said tubes for mixing the two streams of treated air and permitting the mixture to pass into a room or the like, and thermostat means for automatically stopping the operation of the heating means when the temperature in the room or the like reaches a predetermined limit.

6. A device of the character described, in cluding, in combination, a casing having an inlet .and an outlet, fan means for drawing air into said casing and forcing it therethrough, means for dividing the air into two streams, a plurality of tubes in said casing, means for adding water to one stream of air to raise the water content thereof, means for heating the other stream of air, said first stream passing around said tubes and said second stream passing through said tubes, a chamber above said tubes for mixing the two streams of treated air and permitting the mixture to pass into a room or the like, and humidostat means for automatically stopping the operation of the means for adding water to the airwhen the humidity in the room or the like reaches a predetermined limit.

ARCHIBALD F. WRIGHT.