US2112277A - Air conditioning unit - Google Patents

Description

- H. D, EUWER 2,112,277

AIR CONDITIONING UNIT Filed May 4, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet l March 29, 1938.

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AIR CONDITIONING UNIT Filed May 4, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 29, 1938. vH. D. EUWER 2,112,277

AIR CONDITIONING UNIT Filed May 4, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 MMM rromvsy March 29, 1938. H D, EUWER 2,112,277

AIR CONDITIONING UNIT Filed May 4, 1935 4 SheetS-Sheet 4 4Z i 52p VVE/V TOR Hererz uwer www d@ /TToR/vfy Patented Mar. 29, 1938 AIR CONDITIONING UNll'll Herbert D. Euwcr, St.

Louis, Mo., assignor to American Car and Foundry Company, New

York, N. Y., a corporation of New .Hersey Application May 4, 1935, Serial No. 319,811

Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in air conditioning equipment in general and in particular to air conditioning equipment intended for application to railway cars or any application where space is limited.

It has been found advisable in air conditioning work to draw rather than force the air over the cooling or heating coils in order to avoid as much as possible noise caused by the turbulence ci the air as well as to decrease the power consumption. This necessitates the placement of the blower motor and blower between the conditioning coils and the point of air discharge to the space to be cooled andi in railway .work especially this is extremely hard to accomplish due to the lack of available space which is necessary for frequent inspection, cleaning and possible repair of the unit. Also in railway Work it becomes necessary to provide space to permit ready installation of the unit in the limited car space available.

Previous constructions have been made with the blower forcing air through the conditioning coils but such installations were noisy as mentioned above and it was almost impossible to clean the conditioning coils without partially dismantling the unit. Other constructions have -been made wherein the blower pulled air through the conditioning coils but in order to make the blower motor accessible for inspection it was mounted exterior of the unit and drove the blowers by means of a long shaft; in such a construction proper cleaning of the coils wasA almost impossible.

It is an object of this invention to provide an air conditioning unit wherein the blower and blower motor may be placed within the unit casing adjacent the point of discharge and so arranged as to be readily removable from the unit in order that the space previously occupied may be available to a workman for installation, inspection, cleaning or repair of the unit.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a motor and blower assembly which may be swung down as a unit for inspection and maintenance. y

Another object of this invention is the provision of a motor and blower assembly which is 'readily removable from the air conditioning unit and which assembly has no direct metallic contact with the remainder of the unit.

A still further objectof this invention is the provision of a plenum chamber which may be attached to the air conditioning unit by a Workman Working through the space provided for a removable blower and motor assembly.

These -and. other objects will be obvious to one skilled in the art from a study of the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a section taken substantially at the center of the improved unit and plenum charnber;

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the improved unit with parts broken away to more clearly show the invention;

Fig. 3 shows on the right a front elevation of the plenum chamber and on the left a section -taken through the unit on line 3--3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the hinged member shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. 5 is a. sectional view similar to Fig. 1 show- 'ing the blower assembly swung down for inspection, and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 1 showin the blower assembly removed to provide space for workmen.

Referring now to the drawings in which like references apply to like parts throughout the various views; the air conditioning unit A comprises a casing providing space for the blower assembly B; eliminator E, heat coils H and cooling coils C. The plenum chamber or air conducting member P connects the unit with the discharge or duct system of thespace to be cooled.

The unit casing is formed by top wall 2, bottom plate 4 having an opening therein with the metal adjacent the opening ilanged downwardly as -at 6, side walls-8 and end wall i0, the lower edge of which is inclined similar to the bottom plate. A reenforcing member or members I2 surround and reenforce the openinginv the bottom plate and provide a downwardly and inwardly inclined portion for engagement with the blower assembly. The front plate is provided with a suitable opening for Athe connection of the plenum chamber or any other air discharge means and with hinge butts I4 adapted to support the blower assembly.

The blower assembly comprises a pan-shaped plate I6 provided with continuous upwardly and outwardly directed flanges I8 carrying rubber, cork or other vibration dampening and sealing means 20 adapted to bear on the flanges of member I2. The inside of the plate I6 is provided with means to mount the motor M fed by flexible cable 2| and blower or blowers 22 aswell as brackets 24 for the attachment of spring 26, the other end of which is attached to bracket 21 carried by the end wall.l The bottom of the plate is provided with complemental hinge butts I4, supporting arms 28 and when necessary a drain conably interconnect the hinge butts, while supporting bolts 34 coact with arms 28 and bracket or other means 36 carried by the unit casing. Such a connection between the plate and casing may be properly termed movable since it permits not only a rotational motion but also the removal of the plate. The blower discharge outlet is strengthened by band 38 having a ange 40 providing a shoulder adapted to cooperate with a vibration deadening and sealing gasket 42 cemented or otherwise attached to the end wall adjacent the discharge opening.

The plenum chamber or air conducting member P as shown is of irregular contour with the upper wall 44 curved in accordance with the car roof, as shown in Fig. 3, the lower wall 46 curved in accordance with the interior of the car and with the sides 48 converging to thus form an out- 'let corresponding to the central duct or discharge. The end of the plenum chamber yadjacent the conditioning unit is provided with inturned anges 50 whereby bolts or other securing means 52 may be applied in order to fasten the plenum chamber to the end wall. It is to be noted that this attachment may be readily accomplished by a workman reaching in through the space intended for the blower assembly.v

The contour of the plenum chamber is immaterial and may be changed to suit the installa;- tion for which it is'intended.

The unit is shown as applied to the car adjacent the roof, betweenthe bulkhead 54 and above the vestibule ceiling 56, but such a placement is purely representative as the unit lends itself readily to other positions where space is limited, whether this be in a railway car or some stationary structure.

It is readily seen that the entire box-like unit A may be assembled complete and easily applied to the car or other structure by removing the pintles 32, unplugging the cable 2l, slipping oi the tube 3i; and removing the blower assembly, thus providing sp'ace for the workman to attach the preformed and positioned plenum chamber or air conducting member P. It is also seen that when the blower assembly is in the operative position shown in Fig. 1 there is no metallic contact between the assembly and the unit due to the dampening members 20 and 42.

Assuming the parts in the position shown in Fig. 1, it is only necessary to loosen the bolts 34 and allow the entire assembly to swing down under control of springs 26 in order that a workman may service the motor and blowers or use an air hose or other means to clean the -conditioning coils. In case the Workman needs to make repairs which .require more working space it is only necessary to remove the assembly as explained in the above paragraph. Y

While one type of construction has been shown and explained it is obvious that other constructions, arrangement oi parts and methods of operation may be employed by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the ap-` pended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An air conditioning unit having a casing with at least one flanged opening therein, air conditioning means in the casing, a blowerassembly comprising a anged plate member movably connected to the casing with a motor driven blower mounted thereon having a discharge adapted to cooperate with a. second opening in the casing, sealing and sound-deadening means interposed between said anges and between said discharge and second opening whereby the assembly is insulated from the casing.

2. An air conditioning unit having a casing with at least one flanged opening therein, air conditioning means in the casing, a blower assembly comprising a anged plate member movably connected to the casing with a motor driven blower mounted thereon having a discharge adapted to cooperate with a second opening in the casing, sealing and sound-deadening means interposed between said anges and between said discharge and second opening whereby the assembly is insulated from the casing, said movable connection permitting movement ofthe assembly as a unit whereby a workman may perform necessary operations on the unit.

3. An air conditioning unit having a casing with at least one ilanged opening therein, air conditioning means in the casing, a blower assembly comprising a ilanged plate member movably connected to the casing with a motor driven blower mounted thereon having a discharge adapted to cooperate with a second opening in the casing, sealing andsound-deadening means interposed between said iianges and between said discharge and second opening whereby the assembly is insulated from the casing, and springs interposed between the plate and casing to restrain movement of the plate.

4. An air conditioning unit having a casing, air conditioning means in the casing, a blower assembly comprising a plate member movably connected to the casing with a motor driven blower mounted thereon having a discharge outlet adapted to cooperate with an opening in the casing; an air conducting member having inturned flanges positioned adjacent the opening and' adapted to be fastened to the casing, said assembly being movable whereby a workman may attach the conducting member to the casing from the interior.

5. An air conditioning unit comprising a casing having an air discharge opening in a wall thereof, air conditioning means in said casing, a motor driven blower arranged within said casing with its discharge outlet detachably engaged with the before mentioned wall adjacent the air discharge opening, and means forming at least a part of another wall of said casing to which the blower is connected, said means being shiftable to remove said blower from its engagement with the first named wall to permit access to the interior of the casing. i

HERBERT D. EUWER.

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