US2824575A - Air conditioner attachment - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 25, 1958 s. ROSEN AIR CONDITIONER ATTACHMENT Filed July 12, 1954 INVENTOR.

BY 2 i I v 55 I Z Y & E a,

m. P- F 2 mm I u V0. m. 1 J- v v United States Patent 6 AIR CONDITIONER ATTACHMENT Shy Rosen, New York, N. Y., assignor to Milprint, Inc., Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Delaware Application July 12, 1954, Serial No. 442,807

1 Claim. (Cl. 138-25) The; present. invention relates generally to improvements inthe art of air conditioning, and relates more particularly to improvements in the construction and operation of attachments for window type airconditioners.

A primary object of this invention is to provide an improved highly efficient and economical conditioner attachment adapted to conduct and distribute conditioned airfrom the conditioning unit to any desired locality remote therefrom.

Another. specific object of the invention is to provide an improved and exceedingly flexible low cost attachment for window air conditioners which may be readily applied without special tools to any existing units to conduct either a part or all of the conditioned air output to desired localities Within the room or elsewhere.

Another specific object of my invention is to provide a novel and improved air conditioner extender which may be readily fabricated of suitable plastic materials such as flexible sheets or extruded tubes of polyethylene and wherein conditioned air may be conducted to given points through tubes of any desired lengths and number of sections.

Still another specific object of my present invention is to provide an improved conditioned air distributing device embodying an expansible adaptor hood formed for quick and easy application over any-desired portion or portions of the outflow or output section of commercially available window type air conditioners.

A further specific object of the present invention is to provide an improved air conditioner attachment comprising, a flexible hood having an expansible mouth, means for securing the mouth' of'saidyhood inposition over at least a portion of the air outlet of the air conditioning unit, and a flexible conduit communicating with the interior of said hood for conducting air from said hood to a given locality remote from the conditioning unit.

These and other specific objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description.

A clear conception of the features constituting my present improvements, and of the mode of constructing and of utilizing air conditioner attachments embodying the invention, may be had by referring to the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate the same or similar parts in the several views.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a typical air conditioner extender embodying the invention and showing the same attached to a typical window mounted air conditioning unit so as to cover the entire air outlet thereof;

Fig. 2 is a somewhat enlarged fragmentary section through the mouth portion of the adaptor hood adjacent to one of the attachment suction cups; and

Fig. 3 is another enlarged fragmentary section taken through the connecting portions of adjacent tube sections and showing the same partially uncoupled.

While the invention has been specifically shown and described herein as being particularly adapted for use with a window type air conditioning unit.having= a front.

wall air outlet and as embodying a particulartype of elastic-band in the mouth ofithe hood which is shownin the drawingtas completely surrounding the conditioned air outlet of the conditioning unit and securedto the. side walls thereof by a number of suction cups, it is not.

desired or intended to thereby unnecessarily limitthe scope or utility of the improvement since the attachment: may be readily utilized or adapted for use with any type:. of conditioner with the hood being rendered expansible by suitable-spring means or the like and being retained; in position by any desired number: of suctioncups or, It is furthermore contemplated;

other attachment means. that certain specific descriptive terms as used herein shall be given the broadest possible interpretation consistent with the disclosure.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, the reference numeral 5 designates a typical 'air conditioning unit mounted in a window. 6 and having a front wall conditioned air outlet 7 and control knobs 8 on one of the, side walls thereof; and the typical attachment shown therein as embodying the invention comprises, in general, a hood 10 formed of flexible plastic material such as polyethylene and having an expansible mouth 11 at one end thereof and adischarge aperture 12 of fixed size at the opposite end, the mouth 11 of the hood being rendered expansible by an elastic band 13 or the like sections 18 of polyethylene or the like communicating with the interior of the hood 10 through the aperture 12 for conducting conditioned air from the outlet 7 through the hood 10 to any given locality remote from the con ditioning unit.

The hood 10 may be formed of a piece of sheet stock seamed by application of heat and pressure or it may, be extruded if desired, and while the tube sections 18 may likewise be fabricated of sheet material suitably.

seamed, it is preferable to form the same by extrusion as a matter of convenience. Similarly, although it has been found preferable to form the expansible band 13 of rubber or other suitable elastic material, an expansion spring, draw-string or the like may be substituted therefor, and any other suitable attachment means may likewise be utilized in place of the suction cups 15 for securing the hood in position on the unit 5 with any number of such attachment elements being used for this purpose to effect a reasonably good seal. To maintain an unobstructed opening permitting free flow of conditioned air from the hood 10 through the tube sections 18 while providing convenient means for quickly and easily interconnecting the tubes 18 and the hood 10, the hood and tube sections may be provided with suitable relatively rigid cooperating ring- like coupling members 20, 21, the ring 20 of which has an annular external groove 22 and the ring 21 of which is of slightly larger diameter so as to slip onto the ring 20 and is provided with an annular internal flange or protrusion 23 adapted to interlock under slight compression with the groove 22. These rings may be conveniently, although not necessarily, formed of a light weight and rust-proof metal such as aluminum with a ring 20 being applied to the hood so as to encircle the aperture 12 thereof and one of each of the rings 20, 21 being applied to opposite ends of each tube section 18 to permit interchangeable connections therebetween; and the respective rings may Patented Feb. 25, 1958 be conveniently secured in position within folded marginal portions or heat-sealed hems 24, 25 respectively of the tubes 18 or the hood 10 as the case may be as shown in Fig. 3.

From the foregoing detailed description, it is believed apparent that the present invention contemplates the provision of a novel and improved highly useful and eflicient attachment for air conditioning units by means of which conditioned air may be effectively conducted and distributed as desired to any given locality remote from the conditioning unit. The improved devices may be economically fabricated in quantity and at low cost from flexible plastic or like materials with the aid of more-or-less standard bag-making equipment, and the devices may moreover be readily packaged and merchandised in relatively small and easily handled units and may be quickly and properly assembled and applied by a novice without the need for special tools or other equipment. As hereinabove indicated, the mouth of the hood 10 may be readily applied to the conditioner 5 so as to cover either all of the conditioned air outlet or only any desired portion thereof regardless of whether the air outlet 7 is located in the front wall or any other wall of the unit 5, and if the adaptor hood 10 should perchance cover any switch or other control, access thereto may be had by either stretching the expansible mouth or by reaching in through the aperture 12 before coupling the first tube section 18 by means of the rings 20, 21. The tube sections 18 may, of course, be furnished in any desired lengths and with any desired number of sections being supplied with a packaged unit, and while the coupling rings 20, 21 have been shown and described herein as being of a particular construction, they may obviously be considerably modified as desired. The rings 20, 21 may likewise be formed of plastic or other materials instead of metal as indicated, and a suitable stand 26 may be provided for the free end of the last tube section 18 as shown, the stand being readily attached as by a bolt 27 to the ring or 21 as the case may be and permitting proper directional control of the air from the conduit. The plastic hood 10 and tubes 18 may be quickly and easily mended, if torn, with the aid of available adhesive tapes, and tests have proven that desired quantities of conditioned air may be distributed to remote points in rooms other than that in which the conditioning unit is located with amazing efficiency.

It should of course be understood that it is not desired to limit this invention to the exact details of construction or to the precise mode of use herein shown and described, since various modifications within the scope of the appended claim may occur to persons skilled in the art to which this invention pertains.

I claim:

A portable and collapsible attachment for an air conditioning unit having a conditioned air outlet, said attachment comprising, a flexible collapsible plastic hood having a mouth and a discharge aperture remote from the month, an expansible band confined within and circling the mouth of said hood, a plurality of attachment elements secured in spaced relation to said band and cooperable with the conditioning unit for detachably securing the mouth of said hood over a selected desired area of the conditioned air outlet, a rigid coupling ring of smaller fixed diameter than that of said hood mouth circling the discharge aperture of said hood, a plurality of flexible collapsible plastic tube sections of approximately the same transverse cross-sectional area as said coupling ring extending in series therefrom, the tube section adjacent said hood being provided with a rigid coupling ring cooperable with said first mentioned coupling ring for detachably joining said tube section to said hood, and cooperating pairs of rigid coupling rings at adjacent ends of successive tube sections for interconnecting said sections, said coupling rings being sized to fit one within the other to detachably join said tube sections and provide a continuous conduit formed of flexible sections having entry and discharge ends of substantially uniform diameter communicating with the interior of said hood through the discharge aperture thereof for conducting conditioned air from said hood to a given locality remote from the conditioning unit when said hood mouth is secured to the conditioned air outlet.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,459,476 Meredith June 19, 1923 1,525,538 Evans Feb. 10, 1925 1,704,971 Howell Mar. 12, 1929 1,786,130 Schoenfeld Dec. 23, 1930 1,861,296 Braly May 31, 1932 1,938,229 Ukropina Dec. 5, 1933 1,966,882 Bucklen July 17, 1934 2,003,732 Bins June 4, 1935 2,094,147 Forsberg Sept. 28, 1937 2,124,925 McNeal July 26, 1938 2,326,439 Clements Aug. 10, 1943 2,352,876 Wilson July 4, 1944 2,637,360 Doebler May 5, 1953

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