US2851866A - Room cooler - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 16, '1958 s. E. Rosa" ROOM COOLER Filed May 18, 1956 'IGJ FIG. 2,

INVENTOR. ANLEY E. R0 5 BY m H 5 ORN EY United States Patent ROOM COOLER Stanle E. Rose, Erie, Pa., assignor 'to General Electric Company, a'corporationof New York Application 'May 18, 1956, Serial No. 585,765 2 Claiii1's. '(Cl. 62- 427) The present invention relates to a. self-contained air conditioning apparatus and more particularly to an improved 'air circulation arrangement within such apparatus.

A self-contained'type of air conditioning unit for conditioning the air within an enclosure, located within a window of the enclosure comprises an indoor section or compartment 'and an outdoor section or compartment. A'mechanical refrigeration system for the unit includes an evaporator disposed in the indoor -compartment and a condenser disposed in the'outdoor compartment. Heat in the room air is extracted by circulating the room air over the evaporator While outside air is circulated over ihe'condens'erin order to reject the heat extracted from the room "air to the outside atmosphere. Air moving meansare associated with the-evaporator and condenser for moving the indoor and outdoor air streams over the surfaces of the evaporator and condenser respectively. In addition, 'darhper means are usually provided whereby the unit may be'used for ventilation in which outside air is moved directly into the enclosure. When the unit is to be used on ventilation, it is highly desirable that a "relatively large volume of outside air be moved into the enclosure. However, in previous designs, full advantage has not been taken during ventilation of the air moving capacity of both of thefans due to the fact 'that the arrangements of the partitions and other elements designed for effective operation of the apparatus "as a room cooling means could not, by the use of one or more dampers be readily'modified for most eflicient operation on a'ventilating cycle.

Accordingly,'it is an object of my invention to provide a new "and improved air circulation arrangement 'for a salt-contained air conditioning unit.

ltis another object of my'invention to provide a compact, self-contained, air conditioner including :an improved partition "and fan arrangement whereby the two air circulating fans can selectively move a single ventilating air stream together or two air streams individually.

It is'a still further object of my invention to provide an'impro'ved arrangement utilizing dual fans so arranged that they can be employed for proportioning the room air and outside air passing through a self-contained, air conditioning unit or can both be employed for pumping outside'air only thro'ugh'the unit for ventilation.

In carrying out the objects of theipresent invention, iliprovide a self-contained, air conditioning unit'containing a conventional'refrigeration system including an evaporator arid a condenser. Air moving means arranged in one portion of'the unit cabinet are provided for moving room air over the evaporator. Air moving means arranged-adjacent the evaporator air moving means provided for moving outside air over the condenser. At least arportion of the air circulated over-either the condenser or evaporator 'may be directed into the air moving iii'ednjsas'soc'iated'with the other of these heat exchangers by adjustabl'erneans provided within the air conditionihgu'nit. The adjustable means are also arranged'so that if desired the room air may be excluded from the unit and outside air pumped serially through the condenser and evaporator air moving means to increase the outside air available for ventilation purposes.

The novel features which I believe to be characteristic of my invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. My invention, however, both 'as to its organization and method of operation maybe best understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a horizontal sectional view of a self-contained, air conditioning unit incorporating my invention; and

Fig. 2 is a vertical view partially in section taken through the air conditioner of Fig. '1 substantially along lines 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawing, I have shown therein a self-contained, air conditioning unit 1 adapted to be mounted in a window of the enclosure or room .to be conditioned. The conditioner 1 includes a front portion 2 projecting into the room and a rear portion 3 projecting without the room. Means including a flange 4 is provided intermediate the twoportions to prevent leakage of outdoor air around the unit andinto the room.

Referring now to'Fig. 2, I provide in my air conditioning unit l a conventional mechanical refrigeration system including a condenser 9?, an evaporator 8, and a compressor 14 connected in a series -flow relationship. The closed refrigeration system in which they are connected, is, however, not completely shownsince it will be understood that any of the well-known refrigeration systems may be used.

Room air is drawn into the unit through the opening '5 and moved over the evaporator 8 where its heat is extr-acted by the refrigerant flowing through the evaporator coil. The cooled room air is then discharged back .into the room through the discharge opening 6. Outside air is drawn into the outdoor portion 3 of the unit through opening 11, over the compressor 10, through the opening 7inpartition-Il2 and then through the condenser 9 where the heat extracted from the room air is transferred to the outside air. As shown inlFig. 1, the baffie or partition 12 is arranged within the unit '1 between the compressor l0 and the condenser 9.

In order to provide for the circulation of room air over the evaporator 8, I haveprovided within the upper .portionof the air conditioning unit 1 an air distribution chamber or plenum 13 suitably secured to the top wall of the unit. The plenum 13 is shaped as 'a scroll and contains a circular portion 13a having an opening 14 within the bottom wall. Theplenum .fiares outwardly to an open end 15 which is arranged to accommodate the evaporatorcoil S of the conventional fin and tube type.

In order to provide for thecirculation of outside air through the unit 1 and over the condenser 9, a second air distribution chamber or, plenum 18 is located within the lower portion of the unit lbelow the evaporator plenum 13 is also shaped generally as a .scroll and contains a circular portion 18a having an opening 19 in its upper wall. 'The plenum ltlilares outwardly to an open end 2d at the rear opening 11 of ,portion 3 of the .unit. The condenser 9 is positioned within the=end opening 26 of the plenum 18.

The plenum 18 is alsoprovided-with an-air opening 21 within the upper wall of its circular portion 18a .as shown best in Fig. 2. This opening-21 may be closed by suitable adjustable means such as a damper f2'2,pivotably mounted on the scroll wall.

In order to provide for the circulation 'ofroo'm 'air over the evaporator 8 and the circulation 'of outside airfover the'condens'er' 9, I provide a pair "of coaxiallyarranged,

vertically aligned air moving means "arranged "so that one moves air through the evaporator plenum 13 and the other moves air through the condenser plenum 18. More specifically, I provide a centrifugal blower 25 arranged on a vertical axis within the evaporator plenum 13 having an axial intake directly over the air opening 14 in the plenum lower wall. The blower 25 is suitably attached by means such as hub 27 to the upper end of a shaft 28 of a vertically mounted motor 29. The motor 29 is suitably mounted on a vertical axis to par titioning means 30 having a centrally located horizontal portion 30a to which the motor is anchored. At lower end of the motor shaft, another centrifugal blower 32 is similarly attached by means such as hub 33 and so positioned within the condenser plenum 18 that its axial intake is directly below the air opening 19.

It will be seen that the partition 30, portions of the side wall 35, partition 12 and wall 36 of the plenum 18 form an air passageway 37 for outdoor air entering the unit through openings 7 and 11 and the compartment housing compressor 10. The same partition 30 which is disposed between the upper plenum 13 and the lower plenum 18 also cooperates with the plenum 13 and partition 12 to form an air passageway 38 for room air drawn into the unit through inlet by the fan 25.

In the operation of my invention, when the damper 22 is in a position of Fig. 2 closing opening 21, room air is drawn into the passageway 5 in the front of portion 2 of the unit 1 under the action of the blower 25. The room air then moves into the axial intake of the centrifugal blower 25 through the air intake opening 14 in the plenum 13. As the blower 25 rotates, the room air is discharged radially outwardly in the evaporator plenum circular portion 13a and through the plenum 13 passing over the evaporator 8. Heat is extracted from the room air by the refrigerant flowing through the coils of the evaporator 8 and the cooled room air passes back into the room through the air discharge opening 6. As the lower centrifugal blower 32 is also being driven by the motor 29, outside air is drawn into the unit through openings 11 and 7 and into the axial intake of the blower through the air intake opening 19 in the condenser plenum 18. The outside air then moves radially outwardly into the circular portion 18a of the plenum 18 and over the coil surfaces of the condenser 9 where the heat extracted from the room air by the refrigerant flowing in the evaporator 8 is transferred to the outside air by the refrigerant flowing in the condenser 9.

If it is desirable to mix a portion of the outside air flowing within the plenum 18 with the room air, the damper 22 may be pivoted a selected distance from the dotted line position of Fig. 2 so as to open or partially open the opening 21. Thus a portion of the outside air within the plenum 18 will flow from the'plenum into passageway 38 through opening 21 where it unites with the room air stream entering through opening 5 and moving towards the intake of the evaporator blower 25. The position of the damper 22 thus determines the quantity of outside air which is mixed with the room air.

In many cases it is desirable to operate the unit so as to completely shut off the re-circulation of room air within the unit and ventilate by moving only outside air through the unit into the enclosure. I therefore provide an arrangement whereby the two blowers 25 and 32 may be serially connected in air flow relationship so that a single air stream is moved under the pumping action of both blowers from the outside into the interior of the room. More specifically if the damper 22 is rotated upwardly into the dotted line position of Fig. 2 where the damper end abuts the lower wall 39 of the plenum 13, room air can no longer move into the evaporator plenum 13 as the passageway 38 has been sealed oif from the air opening 5 in the front of portion 2 and now communicates only with the opening 21 in the lower plenum 18. Thus the outside air entering the passageway 38 under the influence of the blower 32 and through the opening 21 is moved in greater quantities than in any other position of the damper 22. This outside air passes directly into the evaporator blower 25 through the plenum opening 14 where it is subsequently moved over the surfaces of evaporator 8 and into the room through the discharge opening 6.

It should be well understood however that although the damper position is such that only a single air stream to the evaporator plenum 13 is established there is still a partial flow of outside air over the condenser 9 from the blower 32 so as to continually provide for the transfer of heat extracted from the condenser coil refrigerant to the outside air.

Under some conditions, it is desirable to employ a room air conditioning unit for exhausting air from the room. For that purpose, there is also provided an opening 40 in the lower wall of scroll portion of plenum 13 eommunicating with passage 37 and a pivoted damper 41 controlled by a suitable operating mechanism (not shown) for closing the opening 40. Damper 41 is kept closed for operation of the unit on the cooling or ventilating cycles. However with damper 22 in a closed position and damper 41 open, room air is exhausted under the combined action of both blowers 25 and 32. On exhaust with damper 41 open, room air flowing through inlet 5 and passage 38 into scroll 13, passes through the opening 40 into passage 37 where it is picked up by blower 32 and discharged through scroll 18 and condenser 9 to the outside.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I have provided a self-contained, air conditioning unit for an enclosure which is arranged not only to cool the air within an enclosure while transferring the heat extracted from the room air to the outside air but additionally provides for a controlled flow of outside air through the unit during ventilation or exhaust by connecting in series air flow relationship the air moving means for the evaporator and the air moving means for the condenser. This has been accomplished by my novel arrangement where a pair of coaxially arranged, vertically aligned centrifugal blowers or fans in combination with adjustable damper means are arranged to permit each blower to move an air stream independently of the other blower or to operate the two blowers in such a manner that air moved by one blower is conducted to the intake of the other blower forming substantially a single air stream utilizing the pumping characteristics of both blowers. By my blower arrangement and partitioning means, I am also able to reduce substantially the size of the self-contained, air conditioning unit and provide a construction within the unit which is greatly simplified while resulting in increased efficency in the operation of the unit.

While in accordance with the Patent Statutes, I have described what at present is considered to be the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention, and it is, therefore, aimed in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

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

1. In a self-contained, air conditioning unit for an enclosure comprising a housing, a refrigeration system within said housing including an evaporator and a condenser, an air distribution chamber having an air opening associated with said evaporator, a second air distribution chamber having an air opening associated with said condenser and spaced from said first chamber, a partition between said chambers, a pair of coaxially arranged, vertically mounted, centrifugal blowers within said housing, means for driving said blowers mounted on said partition, one of said centrifugal blowers arranged within said air distribution chamber for moving air within said enclosure through its air opening and over said evaporator, said other centrifugal blower arranged within said condenser chamber for moving air through its air opening and over said condenser, a ventilating air opening within said condenser air chamber, damper means associated with said condenser chamber for directing a portion of said outside air from said condenser air chamber to said evaporator air chamber opening, said damper means movable to admit only said outside air to said evaporator chamber opening, an exhaust air opening in said evaporator chamber and damper means for controlling the flow of air through said exhaust air opening.

2. In a self-contained, air conditioning unit for an enclosure comprising a housing, a refrigeration system within said housing including an evaporator and a condenser, an air scroll chamber having an air outlet opening associated with said evaporator, an air scroll chamber having an air outlet opening associated with said condenser, partitioning means between said evaporator scroll and said condenser scroll, a pair of coaxially arranged, vertically aligned centrifugal blowers within said housing, one of said blowers being disposed in said condenser scroll and the other in said evaporator scroll, means mounted on said partitioning means for driving said blowers, said partitioning means defining together with said evaporator scroll an upper air passageway for circulating the air from within said enclosure to said evaporator blower, said partitioning means also defining together with said condenser scroll a lower air passageway for circulating outside air to said References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,188,811 Folsom Jan. 30, 1940 2,329,342 Ditzler et a1. Sept. 14, 1943 2,332,730 Kucher Oct. 26, 1943 2,408,973 Cody Oct. 8, 1946 2,451,366 Terry Oct. 12, 1948 2,737,788 Buttner Mar. 13, 1956 2,776,554 Pigmau Jan. 8, 1957

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