US2053387A

US2053387A - Cooling unit

Info

Publication number: US2053387A
Application number: US730020A
Authority: US
Inventors: Walter W Williams
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1934-06-11
Filing date: 1934-06-11
Publication date: 1936-09-08
Anticipated expiration: 1953-09-08

Description

Sept. 8, 1936. w. W. WILLIAMS 2,053,387

I COOLING UNIT Filed June 11, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l .j- INVENTOR.

14444 TER w. W/LL/HMS A TTORNEY.

Set. 8, 1936. w fw. WILLIAMS COOLING UNIT Filed June 11, 1934 -2.SheetsShee t 2 S 4 u 3 l M 5 A, AN 3 1M 4 I N z a z u m n m 4 W A TTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 8, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE 7 COOLING UNIT Walter W. Williams, Bloomington, Ill. 'Application June 11, 1934, Serial No. 730,020 8 Claims. (Cl. 183-26) This invention relates to cooling units and more particularly to such a unit which may be employed with but slight changes in operation as a water-cooling tower, a humidifier, or an air conditioner, withoutchange in construction.

It is an object of this invention to provide a device of this character which is extremely compact, of simple construction, and inexpensive to manufacture.

With these and other objects'in view, reference is made to the accompanying sheet of drawings which illustrate a preferred form of this invention with the understanding that minor detail changes may be made without departing from the i scope thereof.

In the drawings: A

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of an embo'diment of this invention. 4

Figure 2 is a view in section taken on the line 9 2-2 of Figure 1, with parts shown in side elevation.

Figure 3 is a view in section taken on the line 3--3 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

5 Figure 4 is a view in section taken on the line 4--4 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of-the arrows.

The embodiment of this invention as illustrated includes preferably a cylindrical base I having a plate 2 with an upstanding annular flange 3 forming a water-tight closure at the bottom and supporting an inverted frustro-conical member '4 in the open'top, preferably by a conical outstanding flange 5 integral with the member I,

5 engaging the conical sides intermediately thereof. The upper side or base of the frustro-conical member 4 supports aboveit asemi-cylindrical air casing 6 having a top closure 1 provided with. a concentric circular opening supporting thereon.

=0 the base of an inverted frustro-conical member 8 by the engagement of an outstanding flange 9 thereon with the upper'surf'ace of the closure 1, V which member 8 is preferably terminated in line with the bottom of the casing 6- and'is provided 1 5 with an inwardly extending annular flange or angle iron, I0, for a purpose hereinafter de-,- scribedtgThe walls oneach-side of the semi-* cylindrical casing 6 are extended tangential thereto for equal distances slightly greater than. 50 aradius of the casingtto form the sides ll of a housing indicated in Figure 3. The top closure 1 of the semi-cylindrical member is extended" to form a top closure of this housing and the bot-'1 toms of the side members II support-a closure 35 Ha for the under side ofatheth'ousingr The open,

end of the housing supports an air duct l2 extending upwardly at an angle, as shown in Figure 2, which air duct terminates in a vertical eliminator I3 preferably in the form of a rectangular casing I4 having spaced-apart walls-of wire mesh l5 with the space therebetween preferably filled with glass wool l6, commonly known to the trade as spun glass.

The annular inturned flange or angle iron 10 upon the lower extremity of the inverted conical member 8 supports a bracket I! which in turn supports an electric motor 18, with the driving shaft l9of the motor concentric with the axis of the casing I and extending therebelow to enter into the frustro-conical member 4. A circulating pump 20is mounted adjacent the bottom closure 2 preferably upon brackets 2| secured to the interior of the member I with its operating shaft 22 concentric with the vertical axis of the casing I. The operating shaft 22 is provided with a concentric connecting shaft 23 extending upward to abut the lower extremity of the motor shaft I9. The abutting shafts are joined to each other by a bushing 24, by a key 25, and by set screws 26, if desired. The bushing 24 at each end supports concentric spaced-apart annular 1 fan blade housings 21 by means of spiders 28 secured to the top and bottom housings with a concentric cylindrical receptacle 29 surrounding and spaced apart from the bushing 24 interposed between and secured to the respective spiders ,28. Spaced-apart fan blades 30 are mounted vertically in the spaced-apart housings 21. The receptacle 29 is open at the top, re-

stricted to engage the bushing 24 at the bottom, and its cylindrical side is provided with a plurality of perforations 3|, preferably arranged in equally spaced-apart vertical and horizontal rows.

The end of the frustro-conical member 4 opening within the interior of the base l-is termi-i mated a short distance below the lowerfan' housing 21 and is provided with a bottom plate 32 se- ,p cured about its edge, as shown, and with a con-t centric opening "33 corresponding in diameterv to the inner'diameter of the fanvhousing 21-. A plu- --rality 10f spaced-apart stationaryivanes 34 are mountedwithin the frustro-conical member4; The vanes depart from the inner circumference of the member at" a similar angle to the radius r passing through the respective points of 'depare thepoints of departure are equally spacedrapart. The vanes are terminated inverture,. and

tical inner edges spaced apart a short distance from the fan blade housings 2'! vand extendt'from 1 the bottom plate 32 upwardly; to. be terminated in a plane with the lower end of the member 8, as shown, One side of the base i is provided with an aperture 35. over whiph is secured a removable plate 36, which plate is provided with a plurality of air admission ports 31, preferably made by striking in parallel horizontal portions of the plate 36.

An inlet pipe 38 enters through the casing 6 and member 8 to discharge into a sleeve 39 depending from the motor casingand concentric with the motor shaft I9, which sleeve is terminated adjacent the upper end of the bushing 24. A spaced-apart inner sleeve 40 is mounted upon the motor casing concentric with the motor shaft terminated in line with the bottom of the outer sleeve 39. The upper spider 28 of the fan is provided with an upstanding annular flange H which receives within it in spaced-apart relation the lower end of the outer sleeve 39. The intake port of the pump 28 communicates with the interior of the casing I and the discharge port is connected by a discharge pipe 42 which passes through the side of the base I.

When this cooling unit is to be employed as a cooling tower or means for reducing the temperature of the cooling liquid of a condenser, the pipes 38 and 42 are connected to the condenser. When the motor I8 is operated, the pump 20 causes a circulation of the cooling liquid of the condenser, causing the heated liquid to pass through the pipe 38 to be discharged therefrom in the chamber formed between the spaced-apart walls of the

sleeves

39 and 40 and to be discharged from this chamber into the interior of the perforated receptacle 29. The rotation of the motor shaft causes the liquid to be discharged through the perforations 3| by centrifugal force in the form of a spray to be engaged by the vanes 30 so that the liquid is thrown therefrom upon the stationary vanes 34 from which it trickles downwardly upon the bottom plate 32 and then overflows the circular opening 33 therein to descend in a curtain of liquid to the watertight bottom of the base I and, by the action ofthe pump 28, be returned'through pipe 42 to the condensen 4 The action of the fan creates a suction, drawing thesurrounding air through the inverted truncated member 8 to pass below the motor I8 and I through the upper spiders 28 into the interior of the fan and at the same time draws air surrounding the base I through the apertures 31 in the removable plate 36 upon the side thereof. This latter air is drawn through the curtain of liquid descending from the base 32 and enters in the interior of the fan through the lower spiders 28. The action of the fan dischargesthe air along with the spray of liquid from the receptacle 29 to impinge uponthe stationary blades 34 of the inverted frustro-conical member 4. The air is then discharged upwardly from the spaces between the respective stationary blades 34 into the casing 6 and its supported housing into the air duct I2 and passesout through the eliminator II. The air passing through the curtain of cooling v liquid, through the spray within the fan, and

over the moistened stationary vanes 34 reduces the temperature of the cooling liquid so that the cooling liquid returned through pipe 42 to the condenser has been reduced suificiently to produce an efllcient condenser. The eliminator containing the glass wool or spun glass I6 prevents any of the spray of the cooling liquid from being discharged therethrcugh;

As a natural result, the humidity of the air passing through the eliminator has been greatly increased over the surrounding atmosphere by its contact with the cooling liquid. If it is desired to employ this device as a humidifier, a proper amount of water may be admitted to the interior of the base I and. the pipes 38 and 42 joined to each other so that a continuous circulation of water is set up by the pump through the fan. The motor I8 resting upon the braces I'I supported on the annular flange or angle iron I8 allows not only air to be drawn through the inverted frustro-conical member 8, but also, when the device is employed as a humidifier, allows water to be renewed from time to time within the water-tight base I.

If it is desired to employ this device as an air conditioning means, the pipes38 and 42 are connected to pass through a cooling medium of any well-known type whereby the water entering through the pipe 38 is of lower temperature than the surrounding air and a cooling and humiditying effect is produced when the fan is in operation.

From the above, it is seen that a very compact cooling unit has been provided and the air not only passes through the liquid curtain descending from the bottom 32 into the water-tight bottom of the casing I and through the liquid spray issuing from the receptacle 29 but also passes over the extended surfaces to which the liquid adheres, as provided by the stationary vanes 34. It is also obvious from the above that this unit may be employed as a water-cooling tower for a cooling liquid of a condenser, a humidifier or an air conditioner.

What I claim is:

1. A cooling unit including a hollow cylindrical base having walls extended upward to form a to enter within the base, a fan blower having vertical blades spaced apart from the motor shaft and mounted within the fan casing, an annular series of stationary, vertical, spaced-apart-vanes mounted within the fan casing about the fan and forming passages opening at the top into said annular air passage, a circulating pump operated by the motor shaft within the base for delivering a liquid within the blades of the fan, means for spraying said liquid between the blades of the fan into the air drawn into the fan upon operation of the fan which also discharges the spray and air upon the stationary vanes, the bottom of said fan casing collecting the liquid draining from the vanes and delivering it in a continuous curtain about the air inlet in the bottom of the fan casing into the bottom of the base. v

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein the fan casing is in the form of an inverted frustro-conical casing with a portion of its conical wall 'extending within the base.

I 3. The structure of claim 1 wherein the air casing in the form of a semi-circular casing concentric with the'vertical axis of the base with its ends extended tangential to form sides of a housing opening into and supporting the air duct.

4. The structure of claim 1 wherein the air casing is provided with a top closure and with an 75 inverted frustro-conical member concentric to the vertical axis of the base supported thereon.

5. The structure of claim 1 wherein the air casing is provided with a top closure and with an inverted "trustro-conical member concentric to the vertical axis of the base, extending to the top of the stationary vanes supported upon said closure which member supports the motor therein;

6. The structure of claim 1 wherein the means for delivering the liquidto the interior of the fan includes an inlet pipe and a cylindrical chamber into which the inlet pipe discharges formed by two spaced-apart sleeves concentric to the motor shaft depending from the motor casing and opening within the fan blades.

'7. The structure of claim 1 wherein the means for sprayingthe liquid includes a receptacle concentric to the motor shaft, mounted in the fan and open at the top to receive the liquid and provided with a plurality of perforations in its side through which centrifugal force throws the liquid in the form of a spray.

8. A cooling unit, including a cylindrical base forming a liquid tank, a fan casing supported thereabove and an air casing supported upon the fan casing said casings opening into each other and said fan casing opening into the base, an air intake in the base, an air discharge leading from the air casing, a motor-operated fan blower having blades parallel to and spaced apart from the motor shaft and mounted within the fan casing', an annular series of stationary, vertical, spaced-apart vanes mounted angularly within the fan casing about the fan with the spaces between the vanes opening into the air casing thereabove, a motor-driven circulating pump, means for delivering liquid within the blades of the fan and spraying said liquid therebetween into the air drawn into the fan casing upon operation of the fan and discharging the spray and air upon the stationary vanes, said pump circulating the liquid collected in the base through said delivery means. 20

WALTER W. WILLIAMS.