US2097425A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 26, 1937. R. H. IWANDQIELLV AIR CONDITIONER Filed Oct. 13,1936 -2 Sheets-Sheet l R v H m M m n o v 0a W IO A 2 1o IF 9 7 8 V M .M W W 4 4 3 .l .0 n 6 a W E mm H w IHII m t. E a? 7M 2 v 3 a P j v M, 3 J 0 w a a 5 u a w 47k k Oct. 26, 1937. R. H. WANDELL AIR CONDITIONER Filed Oct. 5, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I. mall/riff! INVENTOR 92 bag /2 Z0046. v

|.l.l|||ll lllllllllllllllll ltllilllrll ul lvwlli liillllllllllelallvl ATTORN EY Patented Oct. 26, 1937 UNITED STATES AIR CONDITIONER Reinhold H. Wandell, KansasCity, Mo., assig'nor of one-fifth to Miller, Gumbiner, Sheffrey & Van Valkenburgh, Kansas City, Mo., a copartnership AppIicationOctober 5, 1936, Serial No. 104,023

6 Claims. (01. 261-103) This invention relates to air conditioners, particularly to those for supplying conditioned air in rooms for the comfort of the occupants. The principal objects of the invention are to provide for cooling, cleansing and controlling humidity of the air incidental to turbulent movement of the air in small streams directly incontact with wetted evaporating elements; to provide an improved arrangement of the evaporating elements for maintaining maximum cpntact of the air with the wetting medium; and to provide for thorough distribution of the wetting medium over the evaporating elements.

Other important objects of the invention are 10 to provide a structure wherein the evaporating medium is kept within the confines of the evaporating elements; to provide a support for the evaporating elements that eliminates fluttering and noises incidental to movement of the air streams; and to provide directional control of the air delivered from the conditioner.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention, as hereinafter pointed out, I have provided improved details of structure, the preferred form of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein. I

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an air conditioner constructed in accordance with the present invention, a part of the casing and air control louvers being broken away to better illustrate a portion of the evaporating elements.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the air conditioner on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical centml section through the conditioner.

Fig. 4 is a detail elevation of the air impeller, the pump for moving the wetting medium and the prime mover for actuating them.

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of a portion of one of the evaporating element supporting frames, parts of the evaporating elements being broken away to better illustrate the construction.

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. '7 is an enlarged vertical section through the evaporating elements illustrating the turbulent effect of the air streams moved therebetween under the influence of the impeller.

Referring more in detail to the drawings:

l designates an air conditioner constructed in accordance with the present invention which includes a casing 2 having interconnected side walls- 3+4, front and rear walls 5-6, a top 1 and a bottom 8 to form a chamber 9 for containing the operating mechanism of the conditioner, as later described.

The front wall 5 has a substantially rectangular air outlet opening I!) covered by a plurality of spaced louvers H. The louvers ll comprise fiat strips I2 having ears l3 at the respective ends which are pivotally mounted on trunnions l4 carried by the side edges l5 and I6 of the opening, the louvers being mounted on the trunnions so as to provide suificient frictional'resistance to retain them in adjusted position so as to selectively control the direction of the air streams discharged from the casing.

The rear wall 6 has an air inlet opening l'l of smaller area than the effective area between the louvers ll. Mounted within the opening I! is an air impeller l8 for drawing air into the casing and effecting its discharge through an air conditioning unit l9 andthe outlet opening. The impeller I 8 is supported concentrically of the opening by means of a spider 20 having arms 2| extending radially from a hub 22 and terminating in foot or attaching portions 23 whereby the spider is secured to the inner face of the wall 6 by means of fastening devices 24,. ,The impeller has a shaft 25 rotatably mounted within a bore of the hub and has a projectingend 26 mounting a grooved pulley 21. Supported by the wall .6 is a prime mover such as an electric motor 28 having its armature shaft 29 provided with a pulley 30. Operating over, the pulley 30 and over the pulley 21 is a drive belt-3| also operating over a pulley 32 of a pump 33,'later described. Y I I Extending across the chamber 9. at. a point. spaced above the bottom. 8, is a frame34for supporting the air conditioning unit I9 incovering relation with the outletopening. The unit l9 includes an outerframe 36 including side channels 31 and 38 connected by, upper and lower channels 39 and 40, the channelsbeing offsu flicient length so that the sidechan'nels are. supported against the inner. face of the side ;walls and the upper and lower channels. againstthe inner face of the top 1 andthe upperfac'eflofthe frame 34 respectively, as best illustrated injjFi'gs. 2 and3. m

Carried in the supporting frame ,361are juxtaposed frames M, 42, 43,.and 44,. each includi'ng vertical side rails 45 and, connected'.'at their ends by horizontal rails 41 andl48. "Ihejside and head rails each include web'portionsfds c'lo'seli engaging the inner faces ofthe supporting frame 36 wing n lateral agma-$1. m

lower members 48 also have inwardly extending flanges 54 and 55 similar to the flanges 50 and 5| but the inwardly extending facing flanges 56 and 51 extend upwardly at slight angles, as best illustrated in Fig. 3, to cooperate with the corresponding flanges on the adjacent frames to form troughs 58, 59, and 60.

The frames 4|, 42, 43, and 44 are placed in face to face contact within the outer supporting frame 36 and are retained in position by the inwardly extending side flanges 6| and 62 of the channels. Mountedwithin each of the inner frames are a plurality of vertically spaced evaporating elements 63 preferably formed of an adsorbent material for containing the wetting medium. While various materials may be used for the evaporating elements I find that strips of terry cloth are preferable in order to provide maximum retention of the wetting medium. The terry cloth is formed in strips of slightly greater width than the depth of the frames 4|, 42, 43, and 44 respectively, and of a length-to extend completely across the space between the side rails thereof, the ends of the strips being doubled back and secured by lines of stitching 64 to form loops 65 through which the cross bars 66 of attaching brackets 68 are extended.

The brackets 68 are preferably formed of wire and have their ends 69 and 10 bent retractively in parallel spaced relation with the cross bar portion to engage the inturned flanges 52 and 53 of the side members. The terminal ends of the brackets terminatein hook-like portions II and 12 that are welded or otherwise secured to the edges of the facing flanges 52 and 53, as best shown in Fig. 6.

The brackets are arranged so that the strips of terry cloth are supported at an inclined anglerelatively to the direction of movement of the air through the casing, as best shown in Figs. 3 and 7, with the strips in the frames 4| and 43 in staggered relation and at a reverse angle with the adjacent strips in the frames 42 and 44. The lower edges 13 and 14 of the strips in the frames 4| and 43 overlie the adjacent lower edges 15 and 16 of the strips supported within the frames 42 and 44 to provide vertical ways I1 and 18 for the wetting medium so that when the wetting medium is delivered to the uppermost strips in the frames 4| and 43 it will flow downwardly onto the next lower strips in the frames 42 and 44 for distribution to the next lowermost strips in the frames 4| and 43, and so on to all of the evaporating elements until the surplus liquid is flnally collected in the troughs 58, 59 and 60 or for drainage through openings 19 provided in the lower members for discharge into a collection pan 80. The wetting medium upon being discharged on the strips of terry cloth is carried by capillary action to the op posite edges thereof so as to maintain the terry cloth in completely saturated condition.

Owing to the fact thatthe strips of terry cloth are stretched between the side rails of the frame, and because of the weigh t of the wetting medium saturating the cloth, I find it desirable to provide the frames with cross braces 8| to prevent bowing in the side rails to which the strips are attached. The staggered and alternately inclined relation of the respective strips of terry cloth provides tortuous passageways for streams of air that are passed therebetween by the impelling influence of the impeller so that suflicient pressure is built up in the chamber 9 ahead of the conditioning unit to effect discharge of the respective air streams at the desired velocity. In order. to prevent fluttering and sagging of the strips I interconnect them with stabilizing strands or ties 82 that extend in zigzag relation through the edges of the strips as best shown in Fig. 8, the ends of the strands being secured to the upper and lower rails of the frames. v

The wetting medium, such as water, is contained within the pan that is mounted in the compartment 9 below the frame 34 to which access is had through a door opening 83 provided in the lower portion of the rear wall 6, the opening being normally closed by a door 84 having its lower edge hinged, as at 85, to the bottom 8 and its upper edge secured by a suitable latchv 86 to the upper edge of the door opening, as best shown in Fig. 3. The wetting medium is withdrawn from the pan through a pipe 81 connected to the inlet 88 of the pump 33. The discharge 90 of the pump ranged pipe 92 extending in the plane between the inner frames 42 and 43 at a point above the evaporating elements. The horizontal portion of the pipe is provided with spaced rows of outlet openings 93 and 94 wherethrough the wetting medium is discharged under pump pressure onto the upper evaporatingelements as best shown in Fig. 3.

In using an air conditioner constructed and assembled as described it is so located that the inlet opening I! is in communication with a fresh air supply, for example an open window in the room being cooled. The pan is then filled with water that may contain a small amount of antiseptic to prevent any bacterial growth upon the evaporating elements. The motor is then started to draw air from the window through the opening I! under the impelling influence of the impeller for discharge into the pressure chamber 9. Due to the arrangement of the evaporating elements a slight pressure is built up in the chamber suflicient to cause directional flow of air between the respective evaporating elements as shown by the arrows in Fig. '7.

Simultaneously with movement ofthe air, the wetting medium contained in the pan 80 is withdrawn by the pump and discharged through the outlets into the uppermost evaporating elements so that the wetting medium flows theredown and drips from overlapping edges of the evaporating elements to distribute the water uniformly to the evaporating elements carried by the frames 4|, 42, 43, and 44 respectively, the water being adsorbed by the respective elements so that the elements are kept in thoroughly saturated condition. The air stream upon passing between the evaporating elements of the innermost frame is split by the intermediately arranged evaporating elements of the next succeeding frame so that the divided streams pass along the upper and lower faces thereof, as shown by the arrows in Fig. 7. By thus splitting or dividing the streams of air I am enabled to cause a rotary turbulence of the air streams to assure positive contact thereof with the wetting surfaces of the evaporating elements.

The divided streams upon passing between the evaporating elements in the frame 42 are again divided by the intermediately arranged evaporating elements carried in the frame 43, and again incidental to the staggered relation of the evaporating elements carried by the outermost frame 44 from where the air streams are discharged between the louvers into the room. It is thus obvious that the conditioned air is divided into a plurality of streams which are in turn progressively divided upon passage across the perspective is connected by a pipe 9| with a horizontally arframes so as to effect maximum contact with the wetting medium and thereby efiect cooling of the air streams. Owing to the breaking up and turbulence of the air I am enabled to effect maximum cooling action of the air and control of the humidity.

From the foregoing it is obvious that I have provided an air conditioner which is of simple and inexpensive construction and which thoroughly treats the air passed therethrough. The tortuous arrangement of the evaporating elements provides sufficient retard for the air streams that the air has time to be thoroughly cooled incidental to the evaporating effect of the wetting liquid. The chilled air upon being discharged. between the baffles is directed to the respective parts of the room as controlled by adjustment of the louvers. The surplus air is discharged from the room through suitable ventilating openings as in customary practice.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, a housing having air inlet and outlet openings, a plurality of juxtaposed pairs of air and liquid contact units located in the housing intermediate the inlet and outlet openings, each pair comprising a series of superimposed liquid adsorbing strips, means supporting the strips in spaced horizontal suspension across the housing with the strips in one unit of a pair arranged in staggered and oppositely inclined relation with the strips in the other unit of the pair and with adjacent edges of the strips in slightly overlapping relation to form a tortuous passageway between the units of the pairs, means for delivering a liquid for gravitation through the passageways of the respective units of the pairs to maintain both the upper and lower surfaces of said strips in thoroughly wetted condition, said strips in the units of adjacent pairs being arranged in staggered relation to cooperate with the. stag gered relation of the units in the respective pairs for providing a plurality of tortuous air passageways extending transversely of said liquid passageways, and means for effecting movement of air from the inlet to the outlet opening and through said tortuous air passageways whereby the air steams passing between the upper and lower surfaces of adjacent strips in the first unit are divided by the intermediate strips of the next unit to bring the portions of the air streams moving in contact with the upper and lower surfaces in the first unit into alternate contact with the opposite surfaces of the succeeding units in the direction of the outlet opening to obtain maximum turbulence and contact of the air with said wetted surfaces.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, a housing having air inlet and outlet openings, a plurality of juxtaposed pairs of air and liquid contact units located in the housing intermediate the inlet and outlet openings, each pair comprising a series of superimposed liquid adsorbing strips, means supporting the strips in spaced horizontal suspension across the housing with the strips in one unit of a pair arranged in staggered and oppositely inclined relation with the strips in the otherunit of the pair and with adjacent edges of the strips in slightly overlapping relation to form a tortuous passageway between the units of the pairs, means for delivering a liquid for gravitation through the passageways of the respective units of the pairs to maintain both the upper and lower surfaces of said strips in thoroughly wetted condition, said strips in the units of adjacent pairs being arranged in staggered relation to cooperate with the staggered relation of the units in the respective pairs for providing a plurality of tortuous air passageways extending transversely of said liquid passageways, means for effecting movement of air from the inlet to the outlet opening and through said tortuous air pasageways whereby the air streams passing between the upper and lower surfaces of adjacent strips in the first unit are divided by the intermediate strips of the next unit to bring the portions of the air streams moving in contact with the upper and lower surfaces in the first unit into alternate contact with the opposite surfaces of the succeeding units in the direction of the outlet opening to obtain maximum turbulence and contact of the air with said wetted surfaces, means in the'housing for collecting the liquid at the bottom of the units, and means for returning the collected liquid to the delivering means for recirculation through said passageways.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, a housing having air inlet and outlet openings, a plurality of juxtaposed pairs of air and liquid contact units located in the housing intermediate the inlet and outlet openings, each pair comprising a series of superimposed liquid adsorbing strips, means supporting the strips in spaced horizontal suspension across the width of the housing with the strips in one unit of a' pair arranged in staggered relation with the strips in the other unit of the pair to form a series of troughs with adjacent edges of the strips in slightly overlapping relation to form a tortuous passageway between the pair of units, means for delivering a liquid for gravitation through the tortuous passageways of the respective pairs of units to maintain both the upper and lower surfaces of said strips in thoroughly wetted condiportions of the air streams moving in contact with the surfaces in the first unit into alternate contact with the surfaces of the succeeding units in the direction of the outlet opening to obtain maximum turbulence and contact of the air with said wetted surfaces.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, a housing having air inlet and outlet openings,

a plurality of juxtaposed pairs of air and liquid contact units located in the housing intermediate the inlet and outlet openings, each pair comprising a series of superimposed liquid adsorbing strips, means supporting the strips in spaced horizontal suspension across the width of the housing with the strips in one unit of a pair arranged tain both the upper and lower surfaces of said strips in thoroughly wetted condition, said strips in the units of adjacent pairs being arranged in staggered relation to cooperate with the staggered relation of the units in the respective pairs for providing a plurality of tortuous air passageways extending transversely of said liquid fiassageways, means for effecting movement of air from the inlet to the outlet through said tortuous air passageways in separate streams whereby the air streams passing between the upper and lower surfaces of adjacent strips in the first unit are divided by the intermediate strip of the next unit to bring the portions of the air streams-moving in contact with the surfaces in the first unit into alternate contact with the surfaces of the succeeding units in the direction of the outlet opening to obtain maximum turbulence and contact of the air with said wetted surfaces, means in the V housing'for collecting the liquid at the bottom of the units, and means for returning the collected liquid to the delivering means for recirculation through said passageways.

5. In an apparatus of the character described, a housing having air inlet and outlet openings, a plurality of juxtaposed pairs of air and liquid contact units located in the housing intermediate the inlet and outlet openings, each pair comprising a series of superimposed liquid adsorbing strips of terry cloth, means supporting the strips in spaced horizontal suspension across the housing with the strips in one unit of a pair arranged in staggered and oppositely inclined relation with gered relation of the units in the respective pairs for providing a plurality of'tortuous air passageways extending transversely of said liquid passageways, and means for effecting movement of air from the inlet to the outlet opening and through said tortuous air passageways whereby the air streams passing between the upper and .lower surfaces of adjacent strips in the first unit are divided by the intermediate strips of the next unit to bring the portions of the air streams moving in contact with the upper and lower surfaces in the first unit into alternate contact with the opposite surfaces of the succeeding units in the' direction of the outlet opening to obtain maximum turbulence and contact of the air with said wetted surfaces.

6. In an apparatus of the character described, a housing having air inlet and outlet openings,

a plurality of juxtaposed pairs of air and liquid contact units located in the housing intermediate the inlet and outlet openings, each pair comprising a series of superimposed liquid adsorbing strips of terry cloth, means supporting the strips in spaced horizontal suspension across the width of the housing with the strips in one unit of a pair arranged in staggered relation with the strips in the other unit ofthe pair to form a series being arranged in staggered relation to cooperate with the staggered relation of the units in the 'respective pairs for providing a plurality of tor-- tuous air passageways extending transversely of said liquid passageways, and means for effecting movement of air from the inlet to the outlet through said tortuous air passageways in separate streams whereby the air streams passing between the upper and lower surfaces of adjacent strips in the first unit are divided by the intermediate strip of the next unit to bring the portions of the air streams moving in contact with the surfaces in the first unit into alternate contact with the surfaces of the succeeding units in the direction of the outlet opening to obtain maximum turbulence and contact of the air'with said wetted surfaces.

REINHOLD H. WANDE'LL.

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