US2324858A

US2324858A - Outlet grille for air conditioning apparatus

Info

Publication number: US2324858A
Application number: US372745A
Authority: US
Inventors: Samuel J Levine
Original assignee: General Electric Co
Current assignee: General Electric Co
Priority date: 1941-01-02
Filing date: 1941-01-02
Publication date: 1943-07-20
Anticipated expiration: 1960-07-20

Description

S. J. LEVINE July. 20, 1943. v

OUTLET GRILLE FOR AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 2, 1941 Inventor:

Samuel-J. Levine, v fl ad His Attorney.

Patented July so. 1943 OUTLET GRILLE FOR AIR CONDITIOfilNG' v APPARATUS Samuel J. Levine, Verona, N. 8., assignortto General Electric Company,

York

a corporation of New Application January 2, 1941, Serial No. swam a claims. (CI. 98-40) My invention relates to-outlet grilles for air conditioning apparatus and the like and particularly to adjustable outlet grilles forselectively determining the direction of air discharged into a room from the outletof an air conditioning apparatus,

It is often desirable to change the direction of air discharged into a room from air heating or' cooling apparatus in order to obtain the greatest advantage of the discharged stream in circulating air about the room with maximum comfort to the occupants in the room. For example, it I may be desirable to change the direction of the discharge stream depending upon the temperature of the dischar ed air. When employing air conditioning units which may be placed in difierent positions in the room, it may, for example,

be desirable to discharge air at one angle when the conditioner is arranged to blow the air lengthwise of the room, and in another direction when it is arranged to blow the air in a direction crosswise to the room. 7 It is desirable that the change of direction of .air discharge be effected without the necessity of altering or taking apart portions of the apparatus.

It is an object of my invention to provide an outlet grille for air conditioning apparatus and or louver members arranged to constitute. in effect, two sets, one set tending to direct the all discharged from the opening in one direction and the other set tending to direct thev air in another direction. The air is discharged through only one set of vanes at a time and an elongated bar or other operating member is provided for shield-L ing the set not in use. The bar is pivotally mounted so that it may be swung in either of two positions to select the desired direction of discharge of the air. 1

Referring now to the drawing. in, Figs. 1 and 2 I have shown an air conditioning unit ll muted to be mounted on the floor of a room and having a fresh air inlet duct Ii for connection with a window opening and a conditionedfair outlet comprising two openings I! as indicated in Fig. 2 for discharging air into the room. The outlet is formed in a suitable frame II constituting a portion of the outer casing of the unit ll. Within the casing of the unit l0 there may be arranged the usual elements of an air conditioning apparatus, including a motor and a blower (not shown), a filter i4, and a heat exchanger ll. Furthermore, it is common practice to provide an inlet foradmltting to the casing air from the room which may be mixed with the fresh air and the like including an improved arrangement for determining selectively the direction in which air is to be discharged from the outlet. 1

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds, and the features of novelty which characterize my invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of my invention reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is an end elevation view particularly in section of a portion of an air condl tioning unit havingan outlet grille embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a frontelevation view of the unit shown in Fig. '1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the unit shown in Figs. 1 and 2 i on the line 3-3 of Fig.2; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the operating member of the grille shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing a modified form of my invention; andFig. 6 is a perspective view of the operating member of the grille shown in Fig. 5.

The outlet grille shown in the drawing comprises generally a frame, casing or other suitable member in which is formed an elongated outlet opening adjacent oneedge thereof and in which are arranged a plurality of elongated vanes circulated through the casing and over the heat exchanger. Theheat exchanger II, as illustrated, comprises a suitable coll provided with heat transfer fins lid and through which my be' circulated a heating or acoollng medium.

After the air has passed over the heat exchanger y IE, it is discharged through the outlet and into the room. .Within the openings I! are provided a plurality of louver members orvanes II which tend to force the discharged air to pass out of the openings at predetermined angles... '1'he vanes it. as illustrated, are thin, flat strips or slats. the edges of adjacent vanes being parallel but the flat sides being arranged at anglessultable to direct the air passing through the front and back of openings II at 'diflerent angles. -The' vanes associated with each opening may be arranged in two sets, the vanes in each set having their net sides parallel and all the vanes'oi' one set being at the same angle with respect to the vanes of theother set. However, I Preler to arrange the vanesfso that their not sides lie in radial planes passing through. a common axis. when the vanes are arranged in this manner, the successive vanes from right to left. as viewed in 1 Figs. 1 and 8, directthe air more away from the vertical. By arrangin the "vanes. to direct the air successively more away from the vertical.

within the frame l3on pins II at either end thereof. The member I! has been shown as an elongated bar or channel member mounted on arms I9 at either end thereof which are pivoted "on pins iii. The bar Il may be in either of two. positions. In Fig. 1 it has been shown in a position to shield the two left hand vanes l8. and in Fig. 3 it has been shown shielding the two right hand vanes. The central or middle vane l3 coasaaeee moved from its left hand position as shown in Fig. 5 toward a right hand position in which the arm 26 is substantially vertical.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have provided" a simple and effective arrangement for selectively determining the direction of air to be discharged from the outlet grille of an With this arrange- 1 air conditioning apparatus. ment it is unnecessary to provide adjustable vanes or louvers and the adjustment may be made instantly without the use of tools and without the necessity of bending or turning parts of the grille.

While I have shown my invention in connection with an air conditioning unit adapted to be operates with either of the twosets or pairs of mounted on the floor, other applications will outsideyanes; this gnakes it unnecessary to shield an entire half of the opening, and the bar II, in fact, covers only about one-third of the opening. The middle vane is, therefore. in a somewhat neutral location. When the bar I1 is in the left hand position, as shown in Fig. l, the direction of the air discharged through the openings I2 is more to the vertical than whenthe bar is in a position as shown in Fig. 3, and the right and left hand groups of vanes thus constitute two,

formed in a portion 22 of the frame l3 between the two openings i2. The bar I! is thus arranged to shield those vanes which are not to be used.

During the operation of the air conditioning unit shown in Fig. 1, when it is desired to direct the air in a substantially upright direction, the handle is positioned to place the bar I! for wardly as indicated in Fig.1; and when it is desired to direct the discharged air forward from the unit, the handle 2| is moved to place the bar I! in its position toward the rear as shown in Fig. .3 so that the air is directed forwardly by striking the left hand vanes i8. 3

In Fig. 5 I have illustrated another embodiment of my invention which makes it possible to select any of a plurality of groups 'of the vanes l6 so that the direction of the air may be varied progressively from one side of the outlet to the other. Fig. 5 is similar to Fig; 3 and corresponding parts have been designated by the same numerals. In this construction I have provided a segmental readily be apparent to those skilled in the art. I do not therefore desire my invention to be limited to the particular constructions shown and described and I intend in the appended claims to cover all modifications within the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. An outlet grille for air conditioning apparatus and the like comprising a member providing an outlet opening, a plurality of vanes associated with said opening, said vanes being arranged in two sets, one set for directing air flowing through the opening in one direction and the other set for directing the air in a different direction, and means including amember movable into either of two positions to shield one of said sets of vanes in'one position and the other of said sets in its sheet metal member 23 having an elongated opening 24 inthe central portion thereof through which the air is discharged toward the vanes It, the opening 29 being of less width than the openings l2. The member 23 is pivoted at 25 on arms 23 so that it may be arranged withthe opening 24 in any desired position below the vanes Hi to select a particular group of the. vanes It. A suitable handle (now shown) similar to the handle 20 extending through the slot 2| of Fig. 3 may be provided to move the member 23 to its desired position. The construction of the member 23 is more clearly shown in Fig. 6 where it will be seen that the corners have been cut away as indicated at 21 so that the member 23 may be moved past the end plates of the heat exchanger IS, the fins being sufficiently far back of the end plates that other position for selectively determining the direction of' flow of air discharged through the opening.

2. An outlet grille for air conditioning apparatus and the like comprising a member providing an outlet opening, a plurality of vanes associated with said opening, said vanes being arranged in two sets, one set for directing air flowing through the opening in one direction and the other set for directing the air in a different direction, and means including a bar swingably mounted to be movable into either of two positions to shield one of said sets. of vanes in one position and the other of said sets in its other position for selectively determining the direction of flow of air discharged through the opening.

3. An outlet grille for air conditioning apparatus and the like comprising a member providing an outlet opening, a plurality of elongated flat vanes associated with said opening, the flat sides of said vanes being arranged in substantially radial planes with respectto a common axis and being arranged so that the direction ofithe air passing through said opening is varied progressively from one side of the opening to the other, and means including a member movable into either of two positions to shield a portion of the vanes at one side of the opening in one position and a portion of said vanes at the other side of said opening in its other position for selectively determining the direction of flow of air disgressively toward the vertical as the damper is air in a different direction, and means including a bar swingably mounted to be movable into either of two positions to shield one of said sets of vanes in one position and the other of said sets in its other position for selectivelydetermining the direction or flow of air discharged through the opening.

5, A cabinet for air conditioning apparatus and the like, comprising a substantially'rectangular casing having an elongated opening extending parallel to and adjacent one edge thereof, a plurality of elongated flat vanes mounted in said opening andhaving their longitudinal edges parallel mounted, said vanes being arranged to constitute two sets, the flat sides 0! the vanes of one set being arranged to direct the air at one predetermined angle irom said opening and the flat sides of the vanes 01 the other set being arranged to direct the air at another predetermined angle from said opening, and means including an elongated member pivotally mounted within said casing to be movable into either of two positions to shield oneo! said sets of vanes in its first position and the other of said sets or vanes in its second position for selectively determining the angle at which air isto be discharged irom said 6. An outlet grille for air conditioning apparatus and the like comprising a member providing an outlet opening, a plurality of elongated flat vanes associated with said opening, the flat sides of said vanes being arranged in substantially radial planes with respect to a common axis and being arranged so that the direction of the air passing through said opening diflers progressively from one side of the opening to the other, and means including a movable damper member having an elongated opening therein 01 a width less than that of said outlet opening for selectively determining the direction of flow oi! air discharged from said outlet opening.

SAMUEL J. mzvmm.