US2711086A

US2711086A - Self-contained air conditioning unit

Info

Publication number: US2711086A
Application number: US391455A
Authority: US
Inventors: Anton F Eilers
Original assignee: Servel Inc
Current assignee: Servel Inc
Priority date: 1953-11-12
Filing date: 1953-11-12
Publication date: 1955-06-21
Anticipated expiration: 1972-06-21

Description

June 21, 1955 ALF. EILERS SELF-CONTAINED AIR CONDITIONING UNIT INVENTOR Filed Nov. I2, 1955 6%QJZM 7 ATTORNEY 2,711,086 SELF-CONTAINED CONDITIONING Anton F. Eilers, Evansville, Ind.,' assignor to Servel,ln c.,,

New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware, Application November 12, 1953, Serial No. 391,455 9 Claims. (31. 62-129) The present invention relates to air conditioning and more particularly to a self-contained airjconditio'ning unit for a room or like enclosure.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide,

an air conditioning unit of the type indicated which may be selectively adjusted to add fresh makeup air or exhaust stale room air through a single passageway.

Another object is to provide an air conditioner of the type indicated having a control damper for either. direct;

ing outside air to the suction side of a fanfor circulating room air over a heat absorbing element or directing room air to the suction side of a fan for circuating outside air' over a heat dissipating element. 7 i

Still another object is to provide an air conditioner of the type indicated having separate compartments in which room air and outside air is circulated-a passageway communicating with the separate compartments and a damper for either closing the passageway. between compartments or causing air to flow in either'ione or the other of two directions through the passageway. I

These and other objects will become'm'ore apparent from the following description anddrawing in which like reference characters 'denote like parts throughout the several views. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawing is for the purpose of illustration only and not a definition of the limitation of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims. In the drawing: i i

Fig. 1 is a sectional plan view of a window type air conditioning unit incorporating the present-invention and showing the rotatable damper adjusted toclose the pas sageway between compartments;

Fig. 2 is a partial sectional view of the passageway showing the damperadjusted to direct outside T air into the room; t

Fig. 3 is a view similar to 'FigfZ showing the damper adjusted to exhaust stale room air through the passage-' way to the exterior of the room; j V Fig. 4 is an extended view of the damper showing the ported casing and shutter rotatable therein; and h Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1. showing the passageway and damper in side elevation and manually operatedknob for rotating theshutter relative to the ported casing.

The present invention-may be applied to any conven-' tional type of self-contained room air conditioning' unit. For purposes of description, the invention is shown applied to a window type air conditioner which is illustrated more or less diagrammatically as the detailed construction may take other forms. The embodiment'of air con ditioner illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises; a housing '10 adapted to be mounted in a'window or other opening 11 in a wall 12 and has an inner portion a projecting into the enclosure and an outer portion 10b projecting outwardly fronr the enclosure." The housing 10 has spaced parallel. sidewalls} 13 and 14 and parallel front and

rear walls

15 and 16, The interior of the housing is divided by a transverse of the enclosure or room to be conditioned ,1, wall 17 intoseparate compartments18 and 19 contained generally inthe inner portion'10a and outer portion 10b of the housing, respectively.

Anair circulating means isprovided in each woman-- mentillustrated in the form of a centrifugal type fan 20 I in compartment 18 and a propellor type fan 21 in compartment 19. Fans 20 and 21 are operated by a single motor 22 having .a shaft at one side extending through transverse wall 17 and connected to the rotor of fan 20 1 w and a shaft at its opposite side mounting the fan 21.

a! .A refrigeration systemis provided in the air conditioning unit comprising a heat absorbing element or evaporator 23 mounted in compartment 18 and a heat dissipating element or condenser 24 mounted in compart- 15 ment 19.' A refrigerant compressor 25 is mounted in compartment 19 and preferably is of the type comprising the compressor and a driving motor enclosed in a hermetically sealedcasing. Although not shown, the evaporator 23, condenser 24 and compressor 25 are suitably 1 20 connected in a conventional manner to provide a refrig'eration system. A filter 33 is shown mounted in they housing 10 at the front of the cooling element or evaporator 23,for removing dust or other solid particles from the air'. j

Each of the compartments 18. and 19'has an air inlet andan' air outlet through which room air and outside air is circulated. The air inlet to compartment 18 comprises an opening 26 in the front wall 15 of the housing lflthrough' which room air may flow throughout the width of the'filter 33 and heat absorbing element 23 to the suction inlet at" the axis of the fan 20. The outlet from compartment 18 comprises the outlet 27 from the M1120. It will be understood that the inlet and outlet to and from the fan 20 are segregated from each other a'sby means of a horizontal wall 28 overlying the air in) inlet 26 and-evaporator or cooling element 23. The outlet2 7from fan 20 may discharge air through the top of thehousing, not shown, or through an outlet opening in the front wall 15 of the housing above the hori- 17, 'as'later explained in detail. Air enters the com-' 5 partment 19 through the louvres 29 and port 30 and flows toward the suction sideof the fan 21'. The outlet from compartment 19 comprises a centrally located opening 31 in the rear wall 16 of the housing and directly at the rear ofthe-heat dissipating element or condenser 24. The outletopening 31 is of substantially the same size as the m condenser 24 and air from fan 21 flows through the condenser and outlet opening to the atmosphere atthe exte'rior of the-room' or enclosure being conditioned. To insure a flowi of air around the compressorZS as it flows toward the fan21, and a distribution of the air over the condenser 24, a shroud 32 surrounds the fan 21 and condenser 'in the compartment 19. As thus far described, the airconditioner may be considered as a conventional type inwhich-room air is circulated in contact with a cooling element and outside air is circulated in contact with a heat dissipating element or condenser.

'In accordance with the present invention, a passageway 35 is provided in the housing 10 through which outside fresh air may be supplied to or stale air exhausted from the room or enclosure being conditioned. The fiow of outside fresh' air or inside stale air through the passageway 35 in either one. or the other of two directions is controlled by a damper 36 foreither closing the passage wayjbetween compartments or opening the passageway and connecting it to the air inlet to one or the other of 2,711,086 Patented June 21, 1955 compartments 18 and 1? and formed between the side wall 14 and a parallel side wall 37 of the housing 10. The rearward end of the passageway 35 is in open communication with the atmosphere at the exterior of the enclosure being conditioned and the opposite end of the passageway is in open communication with the room adjacent the air inlet 26 to compartment 18.] Port 30 in side wall 14 also opens into the passageway 35, intermediate its ends. Thus, the passageway 35 communicates with air inlets 26 and 39 to

compartments

18 and 19, and: provides a path for the flow of outside air into the room way 35 throughout its height, see Figs. 1 and 5. The ca s-' ing 49 has comparatively short cylindrical 'bauds' 41 and 42 at its top and bottom and

arcuate walls

43, 44 and 45 extending vertically between the cylindrical bands 41 and 42. Arcuate wall 43 is of the greatest width and lies adjacent the wall 37 of the housing 10. The narrowi arcuate strip 44 is located adjacent to and contacts the juncture of side wall 14 and transverse wall 17 atone side of the inlet port Sti'to compartment 19 and narrowarcu ate strip 45 lies adjacent to and contacts the end of Wall 14 at the opposite side of the air inlet port 30. Thebottom of the casing 463 seats on a bottom wall or base 46 of the housing and the upper end of the casing underlies a top wall 47 of the housing. When casin g 401'is mounted in passageway 35 the arcuate walls 43, 443m 45 provide right angulariy positioned "openings or ports 48a, 48b and 48:: of equal arcuate extent with the ports 48a and 48c in alignment with the passageway and port 48b in alignment with the port opening 30- to compartment 19. Mounted to rotate in the casing 40 is a shutter 50 having circular discs 51 and 52 at the top and bottom and an arcuate wall 53 extending between the top ,and,

bottom discs. To add rigidity to the shutter structure and counterbalance the arcuate wall 33,

rods

54 and 55 extend between the top and bottom discs 51 and 52 at the side opposite the arcuate wall. The circular discs 51 and 52 closely fit the cylindrical bands 41 and 42 of the casing 40 to guide the rotation of the shutter 50 andthe,

arcuate wall 53 is of a width to close a port openingASzz,

48b or 48c in the casing 40. A shaft 56 is .rigidlyconnected with the upper disc 51 of shutter 50 at the axis thereof and projects upwardly through the,;top wall-.47

of the housing with a knob 58 on its projectingend formanually rotating the shutter 50 relative to the casing 40.

Preferably, a collar 59 isprovidedon the shaft56t0, hold the shutter 59 from longitudinal movement relative to the casing 4d. One form of the invention haviug'nbw been described in detail, the mode of operationis-explained as follows. U

When maximum cooling of the airiinthe; roontis.

desired, the shutter 50 of damper 36 is rotated relative to the casing 44) to the position shown in Fig. l to cause the wall 53 of the shutter to overlie the port opening 48a.

inlet port 30 to compartment 19. With thefrefrigeration compressor 25 and fan motor 22 in operation, air in'the room or enclosure to be conditioned is drawn through the air inlet opening 26, filter 33 and cooling element or evaporator 23 by the fan 20. discharged by the fan 20 through the outlet 27 back into the room. Simultaneously, outside air is drawn into compartment 19 through the louvres 29 and also through the passageway 35 and port 30 by the fan 21. Air entering compartment 19 through louvres 29 and port 30 flows inwardly toward the fan 21 and is discharged outwardly over the heat dissipating element or condenser 24 and outlet opening 31 back to the atmosphere outside the The damper 36 then closes the passageway 35. between

compartments

18 and 19 forwardly of the air' The cooled air is then.

enclosure. Thus, the heat -bythe evaporator 23 at low temperature is discharged to absorbed from the room air the atmosphere at the exterior of the room at high temperature.

air inletv port fitland opens the passageway-35r through i the aligned port openings 48a and 48c in the casing- Outside fresh air'is then caused to flow through the passageway 35 to the interior of the room due to the communication of the inner end of the passageway with the suction side of the fan 20. The fan 20 draws room. air

anda certain proportion of outside air from the passage way through the 'air inlet opening 26,.filter 33 arid cooling element 23 to the fan-afid is then discharged by the fan back into the room. Usually fresh makeup air is added whenfs'ome cooling is necessary but the maximum cooling; capacity ofthe unit is not required. v j

When the (recirculated air; in the enclosure becomes stale [or is cont'arninated with odors from cooking, tobacco or the like, the air conditioner may be adjusted to exhauststale' air from the room by actuating the knob 58 to turn. 7

the shutter 50'from the position illustrated in Fig. 2 to;

that illustrated in 3. The arcuate wall 53then over-1 lies .the port opening 48c,:in casing40to close the passageway 53 attire opposite side of theport opening 30 from that illustratedin Fig. l. The inner end of passage way 35 in pen communication with the roomg is then; connected to t he air inlet opening 30 to compartment 19 at the suction sideof the fan 21. 'Due to the construction,

and the relatiyegsuction produced by the two fans 20 and] 21, room iscause'dto flow outwardly through thepassageway 35 and port 30 into compartment 19 where it is i e sd th fan a 3 ex e ior of h n os re Operation oi the air conditioper with this positionaof; adjustment is continueduntil the stale or odoriferous air; in the enclosure has been e thausted.

lt'will now be observed that the present invention provides an air conditioning unit which may be'adjusted to either arid makeup.- air or, exhaust stale room air through a single'passageway, It will further be observed, that the,

present invention provides a damper for either closing the passageway between; compartments or opening the:

passageway tocause flow of room air or outside air' in eitherone or the other of tw0 ;direCtio nstherethrougiu It will also be observed that the present invention provides a stwstio and n m n -o elements for. directi outside air tothe suction side of a fan for. circulating room air or directing roomair to the suction side of a fan.

for circulating outside air. t.

While a single embodiment of the invention is herein.

illustrated and described, it will be understood that m'odificationsmay be made in the construction and arrange? ment of elements without departing from the spiriton scope of the invention. Therefore, without limitation in,

this respect, the invention is defined-by thetollowing claims j I'clarm,

1. In ment with a heat absorbing element therein,-a compart: ment with a heat dissipating element therein, an air inlet; and outlet to and from each compartment, air circulating means for circulating airfrom an enclosure to be cooled andj'ambient air from outside the enclosure through the compartments havinga heat absorbing and heat dissipat ing element, respectively, the combination such'an; air conditioner tif selective means for independently errhaustin'g stale air frorn'or adding outside ambient airto. the enclosure cornprising'a'n open passageway cornmunh Under theseconditions of operation the air conditioner will operate to cool the air in the room at 1 an conditionerof the type havinga compamf eating with the enclosure and the outside ambient, said passageway having ports communicating with the separate compartments at the suction side of the air circulating means, and a single movable damper mounted in thepassageway to either close the port from the passageway to the compartment having the heat dissipating element apd open the passageway or open said port and close the passageway between said port and the outside ambient.

2. An air conditioner in accordance with claim 1 in which the single movable damper is mounted in the pasasgeway to close the port from the passageway to the compartment having the heat dissipating element or close the passageway on either side of said port.

3. An air conditioner in accordance with claim 1 in which the single movable damper is mounted to close the passageway between ports in one position, close the port from the passageway to the compartment having the heat dissipating element in another position to cause outside air to flow in one direction through the passageway to the suction side of the compartment having the heat absorbing element, or close the passageway between said port to the compartment having the heat dissipating element and the outside ambient in another position to cause air from the enclosure to flow in the opposite direction through the passageway and port to the suction side of said compartment.

4. An air conditioner in accordance with claim 1 in which said port from the passageway to the compartment having the heat dissipating element constitutes an outside air inlet and the passageway constitutes a bypass around said port to the air inlet to the other compartment when said port is closed by said damper.

5. An air conditioner in accordance with claim 1 in which the passageway constitutes a bypass around the air inlet to the compartment having the heat absorbing element when said damper is adjusted to open the port from the passageway to the compartment having the heat dissipating element and close the passageway between said port and the outside ambient.

6. An air conditioner in accordance with claim 1 in which the damper is in the form of an arcuate shutter and mounted to rotate to dilferent angular positions in the passageway.

7. An air conditioner in accordance with claim 1 in which the passageway is of rectangular cross section, the port to the compartment having the heat dissipating element is an opening in the side wall of the passageway, and the damper comprises a generally cylindrical casing mounted vertically in the rectangular passageway and having three angularly related spaced openings in alignment with the passageway and port opening to the compartment having the heat dissipating element, an arcuate shutter rotatably mounted in the casing for closing any one of the three openings in the casing, and means for rotating the shutter relative to the casing.

8. In a room air conditioner of the type having a corn partment with a heat absorbing element therein through which a stream of room air is circulated in a predetermined path and an adjacent compartment with a heat dissipating element therein through which a stream of outside air is circulated in a predetermined path, the combination with such a room air conditioner of a port opening between the compartments, a single damper for closing the port opening in one position and movable to a plurality of other positions, and said port opening and damper being so constructed and arranged with respect to the paths of the air streams in the difierent compartments as to induce the flowof outside air through the port opening into the room in one of said plurality of positions and induce the flow of room air through the port opening to the outside in another of said plurality of positions.

9. An air conditioner having a housing divided into adjacent compartments, a refrigeration system having a heat absorbing element in one compartment and a heat dissipating element in the adjacent compartment, each of said compartments having an air inlet and outlet, means for circulating room air and outside air through the respective compartments, a passageway between compartments, a damper having at least one vane for closing the passageway and movable to a plurality of other positions, said damper in one of said plurality of other positions opening a pathfrorn the air inlet to one compartment to the passageway and baffling the flow of air from the passageway to the outlet from said compartment, and

said damper in another of said plurality of other positions closing the path from the air inlet to the passageway and opening a second path from said passageway to the air outlet from said compartment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Davies Dec. 14, 1948