US2971351A

US2971351A - Room air conditioner

Info

Publication number: US2971351A
Application number: US663135A
Authority: US
Inventors: Wendell H Webster
Original assignee: McGraw Edison Co
Current assignee: McGraw Edison Co
Priority date: 1957-06-03
Filing date: 1957-06-03
Publication date: 1961-02-14
Anticipated expiration: 1978-02-14

Description

Feb. 14, 1961 w. H. WEBSTER 2,971,351

ROOM AIR CONDITIONER Filed June 3, 1957 2 SheeEs-Sheet 1 H H o o 9 e a 0 g o 0 9 0 0 Q a 6 i o o p i o o o 9 0 o o o o 9 o o Q 0 5 1 o o O O O b 0 D Q I 3 53 o o c 5 7 a] H n 34 23. 46 2 v a a g: i r b I a fl\ I. i

' 43 INVENTOR.

, a 41 g Wendell H. Z fester BY 45 44 m 7 Eu. 3 a y flttarng Feb. 14, 1961 w. H. WEBSTER 2,971,351

aoou AIR connrrxouza Filed June 3. 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ZZ/endeZZ id ZMster flttorngy ROOM AIR CONDITIONER Wendell H. Webster, Albion, Mich., assignor to McGraw- Edison Company, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 3,1957, Ser. No. 663,135

7 Claims. (Cl. 62-427) This invention relates to air conditioning unit of the type usually mounted in a window forthe purpose of cooling and introducing into a room recirculated room air, or a mixture of room and outside air, and for further exhausting room air to the outside when desired. In particular, the invention pertains to damper means for controlling the circulation of air through the unit while it is carrying on any of the above mentioned functions.

A general object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioning unit whose partsaresoarranged and related asto result in minimal overall dimensions'for a given thermal capacity. 5 1

A further and more specific object of this invention is to reduce the space requirements of and to reduce the number of dampers for controlling air circulation through the unit by employing a rotary disk damper that occupies little more space than the usual sheet metal partition walls which divide a unit into compartments. s

, A further object of this invention is to provide damper means that may be controlled from a single station'for selecting any one of the air circulating functions mentioned above. j

Still another object of theinvention, in its preferred form, is the provision of a damper that cooperates with a perforated bulkhead or partition wall to control air flow on the intake and exhaust sides of a centrifugal type room air circulating fan and between compartments of the unit.

Other more specific objects and advantages will appear from time to time throughout the course of the specificanon.

' A more explicit description of the invention will now be set forth in conjunction with the drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation view, with parts removed and broken away, of a window mounted type air conditioning unit incorporating the present invention and showing the rotary disk damper adjusted for closing the ports interconnecting front and rear compartments and thereby effecting cooling and recirculating of room air only;

Fig. 2 is a side view, partly in-section, taken on a line corresponding with 2--2 in Fig. l;

- Fig. 3 is a sectional view, with parts broken away, taken through the back of the circulating fan scroll chamber on a line corresponding with 3-3 of Fig. 2 showing the damper adjusted in correspondence with Fig. 1 so that the unit cools and recirculates room air;

Fig. 4 is similar to Fig. 3 except that it shows the damper adjusted for admixing fresh outside air into the stream of air being recirculated and cooled; and, r

Fig. 5 shows the damper adjusted for exhausting 'a portion of room air tothe outside'in addition to recirculating the remainder in the room.

The present invention .may be applied toany conventionalself-contained room air conditioning unit. In the instant case it is illustrated in connection with an air conditioning unit whose profile is particularly thin and compact, design effort being concentrated upon the prob- Patented Feb. 14, 1961 2. km of reducing overhang of the unit beyond the frame of the window in which it is mounted.

The unit illustrated in Fig. 1 has its outer decorative housing removed in order to show that, aside from the invention, it comprises the usual components such as a metal base 1 which supoprts a functional sheet metal enclosure 2. The unit includes a refrigeration compressor 3 whose operative connections to a heat absorbing evaporator coil 4 and a heat dissipating condenser coil 5 have been eliminated for the sake of clarity.

The sheet metal enclosure 2 is divided into two principal compartments, including a cooling or heat absorb.- ing, frontcompartment 6 and a heat dissipating, rear compartment 7, .by means of a substantially vertical partition wall or bulkhead 8, see Fig. 2. A portion 8' of partition wall 8 is inclined forwardly so that the heat dissipating compartment can accommodate the large condensing coil 5. The rear or dissipating compartment 7 is occupied by a fan motor 9 that is supported on a bracket 10 resting on metal base 1. The rear shaft end 11 of motor 9 carries a one-piece condenser fan 14, of

the propeller type, adapted to draw air into compartment 7 through a plurality of downwardly directed inlet louvers 15. Fan 14 draws fresh outside air through louvers 15 and. directs it upwardly through condenser coil 5 whereupon it is discharged to the outside ambient through a plurality of outlet louvers 16 which direct the outgoing air in'a strata above that of the incoming fresh air. Both compartments 6 and 7 are closed at their ends by suitable fiber board or metal sheets, for example.

Viewing Fig. 2 it will be'seen that the cooling compartment 6 is provided with a centrifugal fan 17 of the double inlet type. The front inlet 18 of the centrifugal fan is aligned with an opening 19 through a sheet metal wall 20, and the rear inlet 21' is partially occupied by spokes 22 provided with a hub 23 for fastening the fan to the front end motor shaft 12. In practice the number of spokes 22 may exceed the four shown, but some of them have been eliminated here in order to avoid obscuring air, circulating'ports in partition wall 8.

Centrifugal fan 17 is located closely between '

vertical partition walls

8 and 20 which combine with an arcuately shapedsheet metal bottom 26 to define a scroll chamber 25 surrounding the centrifugal fan 17. The scroll chamber opens at its top, see Figs. 1 and 2, and into a discharge chamber' 27 which conducts air through cooling coil 4, a filter 28 and out into the' room being cooled. Cooling coil 4 is supported on a horizontal plate member '29 forwardly of fan 17, to define a room air plenum chamber 30 in conjunction with the base 1. The front of the plenum chamber 30 is provided with a filter 31 which removes air borne impurities from the front intake of the fan 17 as filter 28 removes it from the air discharged by the fan.

In Fig. 1 it will be seen that there is provided a space 32 of approximately equal height to the scroll chamber and set off by a vertical wall 34 for the purpose of accommodating a pushbutton station 33, a temperature selector 35 and other electrical control elements, not shown.

Attention is now invited to the novel damper arrangement for placing compartments 6 and 7 in communication on either the intake or exhaust sides of centrifugal fan 17, or for isolating the two compartments from each other.

Referring to Fig. 3, it will be seen that vertical parti tion wall 8 is provided with intake ports 38 and exhaust Noise reducing and sealing felt 43, whiehis 3, is attached by gluing or other suitable means to.a rotary. damper disk 44 located to the rearof partition wall 8, see Fig. 2. Referring again to Fig. 1, and looking endwise into fan 17, it will be observed that intake .3 ports '38, in wall'8, arealigned with the interior or suction side of the centrifugal fan. The exhaust ports 40, however, are located in wall 8 on the exhaust side of centrifugal fan 17 and outside of its outer periphery as definedbythe'tips'of blades'45, p v

lt is evident that when intake ports 38am open as in Fig. 4, fresh air will be drawn from rear compartment 7 through

ports

38, 39 and into the rear inlet 21 of fan '17 after whichjit will be expelled through cooling.

coil 4 and into the room. I

Accordingly, when inlet ports 38 are closed and exhaust ports 40 are open as in Fig. 5, air that has been drawn from the room through the front inlet 18 of fan 17 will be pressurized in scroll chamber 25 and partially exhausted through exhaust ports 40 into compartment .7, after which the air .is forced into the outside ambient through condenser coil 5 under the further influence of condenser fan 14. The remainder of the air is cooled and recirculated toithe room. a

'When vboth the intake ports '38 and exhaust ports 40 are closed as in Fig. 3, air is drawn from the room through plenum chamber 39 and front fan inlet 18, and recir- 'culated to the room under theinfiuence of the centrifugal ifan which forces it through cooling coil 4'.

The outline of damperdisk 44 is clearly apparent in Figs. 3 to 5 where it is seen to constitute a single piece 17, the damper disk 441s provided with four intake ports 39 which may be registered with corresponding intake :ports 'as in Fig. 4. v

The margin of damper disk 44 is provided with a series of stamped gear teeth 46 that are enmeshed with a coacting closed-end pinion or gear 47. Gear 47 is pinned through its hub to an operating shaft 48 that extends forwardly to a control station .in front of the unit. Shaft '48 may be journalled in several places such as where it passes through partition walls'8 and 20, and the back of 'a channel 49 that, extends laterally across the front 'of' the 'unit; A m anual shaft control knob 5 0 that is accessible fromthe front .of the unit points to indexing designations, 'notshown, but inscribed on the front of the unit in order that the operator may select the various damper positions as illustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5.

:Damper control shaft 48 is surrounded'by a compression spring 51 which is interposed between partition wall 8 and a fixed washer 52 in such manner that shaft 48 is constantly biased toward the front of the unit, or to the left when viewed in Fig. 2. The closed end face 53 of gear 4'1" has a small notch 54 that normally receives a detent projection 55 which is pressed in the sheet metal from the front toward the rear of the partition wall 8.

' t'ional force to initiate movement of the damper in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction from the Fig.

3 position to respective Fig. 5 andFig. 4 positions.

Damper disk 44 maybe supported for rotation on partition wall 8 in any suitable manner. In this case the "damper 44 is provided with a central clearance hole 56 for admitting motor shaft 12 therethrough. Air leakagealong the shaft is prohibited by the felt 43 being per- .fonatediby :a "hole ,that 'is slightly under the shaft diamfelt.

eter so as to secure a wiping fit between the shaft and The partition wall -8 has a large hole 58 whose edges act as a bearing for tabs or cars 59 that are pierced forwardly from damper disk 44 from the margin of its hole 56. Ears 59 pass tightly through appropriate slots in the felt and they are bent radially outward on the front of partition wall 8 so that the damper cannot withdraw from hole 58 in the partition wall and so the damper may rotate on the cars.

In the commercial unit, bearing area between the damper 8 and its bearinghole 58 is improved by inserting the body portion of a collar not shown, in the nature of a shallow flanged cup, through hole 58 so that the flange portion overlays the hole margin. The cup portion extends backwardlyinto hole Y58 and provides an annular bearing surface about the interior thereof. The cars 59 pass through the collar and hold the damper against the wall. This detail has been omitted from the drawing because' it is not indispensable -to understanding the significance ofthenovel dampe'rmeans and 'how it directs the air in various paths through the unit.

The operational mode of an air conditioning unit provided with thenovel damper means will now be summarized. Under operating conditionselectrically driven refrigerating compressor 3 maintains evaporator-coil 4 'at low temperatures for absorbing heat from room air circulating through it. Condenser coil 5 is adapted to When the 'damper '44 is positioned as in Fig. 3', there is no communication between front compartment 6 and rear compartment 7. Accordingly, rotation of centrifugal fan 17 by fan motor 9 causes air to be drawn from the room into front fan inlet "18 after which the fan forces it upwardly through chamber 27, through cooling coil 4 and into the room again.

When the damper is moved counterclockwise to its Fig. 4 position by rotating manual control knob- 50 clockwise, exhaust ports 40, 41 remain closed but'intake ports 39, inthe damper, and ports 38 in the partition wall 8 register. This connects rear inlet 21 of the fan to the rear compartment 7 so that fresh air, which has been forcedxinto compartment 7 by the propeller fan 14-may be drawn into'the centrifugal fan rear inlet 21 and mixed ,with further air drawn from the room through the front inlet 18 and then jointly forced into the room through cooling coil 4.

'When the damper isiadjusted as -in Fig. 5, only exhaust ports 40, 41 are in registry. Under these circumstances, part of the room air thatis drawn through front in inlet 18 for being recirculated is diverted at the bottom of the scroll chamber 25, 'atthe discharge side of the Centrifugal fan, throug'h the exhaust ports 40, 41, whereupon it is added tothe stream'of air passing through conjd enser coil 5 and *finally ejected to-the outside-ambient.

It has been disclosed how all desired air circulating functions of an air conditioner can be "controlled from a single station bymeansof a damper that occupies a minimum amount of spaceinconjunction with a-partition wall that produces a particular compartmentation of the unit. It will be understood, however, that the damper may be located in different places in difierently compartmented units and that it may be modified insofar as its configua room communicating heatabsorbingcompartment and a heat dissipating compartmenga fan in said absorbing fan and provided with an intake port adjacent said intake side of said fan and further provided with an exhaustport, a substantialy planar rotary damper adjacent said partition wall and having a port registrable with the intake port in said wall, and means for rotating said damper for selectively placing said ports in registry and thereby interconnecting said compartments for drawing air from the second compartment axially through the fan and into the room being cooled.

2. A self-contained room air conditioner including a housing and a partition wall separating said housing into a room communicating heat absorbing compartment and a heat dissipating compartment, a fan in said absorbing compartment adapted ot impel the flow of air therethrough and discharge the same into the room being cooled, said partition wall being exposed to the intake side of said fan and provided with an exhaust port adjacent the region of discharge from said fan and further provided with an intake port, a substantially planar rotary damper adjacent said partition wall and having an exhaust port registrable with the exhaust port in said wall, and means for rotating said damper for selectively placing said exhaust ports in registry and thereby interconnecting said compartments for discharging air from said first compartment into said second compartment.

3. A self-contained room air conditioner including a housing and a partition wall separating said housing into a room communicating heat absorbing compartment and a heat dissipating compartment, a fan in said absorbing compartment adapted to impel the flow of air therethrough and discharge the same into the room being cooled, said partition wall being adjacent an end of said fan and provided with an intake port and an exhaust port lying respectively inside and outside the periphery of said fan, a substantially planar rotary damper adjacent said partition wall and having ports registrable with corresponding intake and exhaust ports in said wall, and means for rotating said damper for selectively placing corresponding intake ports in registry and thereby interconnecting said compartments for drawing air from the second compartment axially into the fan and discharging it into said first compartment, or placing corresponding exhaust ports in registry for discharging air from outside the'periphery of said fan from said first compartment into said second compartment.

4. A self-contained room air conditioner including a housing and a partition wall separating said housing into heat absorbing and heat dissipating compartments each having an openingmommunicating with the space being conditioned and the outside air respectively, a double inlet centrifugal fan in said absorbing compartment disposed with one of its inlet sides presented to the room opening and the other inlet side presented to said partition wall, a cooling coil disposed in said absorbing compartment in the discharge path of said fan, a condenser coil in said dissipating compartment and also a condenser fan adapted to draw air into the last named compartment and expel the same through said condenser coil and said outside opening, said partition wall having an intake port lying within the periphery of said centrifugal fan and adjacent one inlet side thereof, a substantially planar rotary damper adjacent said partition wall and having a port registrable with the intake port in said wall, and means operatively coupled with said damper for rotating the same and selectively placing said ports in registry whereby fresh air may be drawn from the heat dissipating compartment into one inlet side and mixed with air from the other inlet side of said centrifugal fan and discharged into the room.

5. A self-contained room air conditioner including a housing and a partition wall separating said housing into heat absorbing and heat dissipating compartments each having an opening "communicating with the space being conditioned and the outside air respectively, a double inlet centrifugal fan in said absorbing compartment disposed with one of its inlet sides'presented to the room opening and the other inlet side presented to said partition wall, a cooling coil disposed in said absorbing compartment in the discharge path of said fan, a condenser coil in said dissipating compartment and also a condenser fan adapted to draw air into the last named compartment and expell the same through said condenser coil and said outside opening, said partition wall having an exhaust port lying outside the periphery of said centrifugal fan and in the region of discharge from said fan, a substantially planar rotary damper adjacent said partition wall and having exhaust port means registrable with the exhaust port in said wall, and means operatively coupled with said damper for rotating the same and selectively placing said ports in registry and thereby interconnecting said compartments for discharging a portion of room air from said centrifugal fan into said heat dissipating compartment.

6. A self-contained room air conditioner including a housing and a partition wall separating said housing into heat absorbing and heat dissipating compartments each having an opening communicating with the space being conditioned and the outside air respectively, a double inlet centrifugal fan in said absorbing compartment disposed with one of its inlet sides presented to the room opening and the other inlet side presented to said partition wall, a cooling coil disposed in said absorbing compartment in the discharge path of said fan, a condenser coil in said dissipating compartment and also a condenser fan adapted to draw air into the last named compartment and expel the same through said consender coil and said outside opening, said partition wall having an intake port adjacent said inlet end of said centrifugal fan and lying inside the periphery of said fan and said wall having an exhaust port lying outside of the fan periphery, a substantially planar rotary damper adjacent said partition wall and having ports registrable with corresponding intake and exhaust ports in said wall, and means for rotating said damper for selectively registering intake ports to draw outside air from said dissipating compartment through said other inlet side of said centrifugal fan, or for registering exhaust ports to impel air through said centrifugal fan from the room into said second compartment.

7. A self-contained room air conditioner including a housing having front and rear openings which are presented to the room being conditioned and the outside ambient air respectively, a partition wall separating said housing into front and rear compartments, a motor driven double inlet centrifugal fan in said front compartment adapted to draw in air through one inlet from the room being conditioned and to discharge air from its outer periphery, said well being provided with intake ports communicating with the interior of said fan through its other inlet, said wall further being provided with exhaust ports communicating with the discharge side of said fan, a substantially planar rotary damper adjacent said wall and having intake and exhaust ports selectively registrable with said corresponding first named ports, means for rotating said damper for registering corresponding ports with each other, said means including gear means on said damper and cooperating gear means engaged therewith, whereby rotation of said last named gear means to a first angular poistion registers said intake ports for adding air from the rear compartment to air in said front compartment, and rotation to a second angular position registers said exhaust ports for expelling air from said front compartment to the rear compartment, and rotation to a third angular position closes all ports for recirculating air through said front compartment only.

(References on following page) UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE, CERTIFICATION OF CORRECTION Patent No. 2,971,351 February 14, 1961 Wendell H. Webster fied that error appears in the above numbered pat- It is; ;.-ereby certi I n and that the said Letters Patent should read as ent requiring correctio 5e corrected below.

Column 5, line 17, for "01:" read to column 6, line 55, for "well" read wall Signed and sealed this 4th day or July 1961.

(SEA L5 Arrest; a

ERNEST W. SWIDER Attesting Officer DAVID L. LADD Commissioner of Patents