US3680328A

US3680328A - Air-conditioner

Info

Publication number: US3680328A
Application number: US118670A
Authority: US
Inventors: William J Mccarty
Original assignee: General Electric Co
Current assignee: General Electric Co
Priority date: 1971-02-25
Filing date: 1971-02-25
Publication date: 1972-08-01
Anticipated expiration: 1989-08-01
Also published as: CA943341A

Abstract

This invention provides an improved air-conditioner. Basically, the air-conditioner comprises casing means mountable within an opening into a room, air-conditioning means contained within the casing, and blower means contained within the casing for drawing air from the room into the casing and proximate to the airconditioning means for conditioning thereby and then discharging the conditioned air to the room. However, in particular accordance with the present invention, the blower means that is contained within the air-conditioner has an impeller rotatably journalled between two spaced apart blower housing walls and is provided with scroll means that can perform a dual function of bridging the two housing walls and also providing a plurality of air discharge ports from the blower housing.

Description

[451 Aug. 1,1972

United States Patent McCarty AIR-CONDITIONER William J. McCarty, Louisville, Ky.

General Electric Company Feb. 25, 1971 [72] Inventor:

[73] Assignee:

[22] Filed:

[57] ABSTRACT This invention provides an improved air-conditioner.

[21] Appl. No.: 118,670

Basically, the air-conditioner comprises casing means mountable within an opening into a room, air-conditioning means contained within the casing, and blower means contained within the casing for drawing air from the room into the casing and proximate to the air-conditioning means for conditioning thereby and then discharging the conditioned air to the room.

However, in particular accordance with the present invention, the blower means that is contained within the air-conditioner has an impeller rotatably journalled between two spaced apart blower housing walls and is provided with scroll means that can perform a dual [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,188,464 1/1940 Moorman.....................4l5/206 function of bridging the two housing walls and also 2780929 2/1957 62/262 providing a plurality of air discharge ports from the blower housing.

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures 207,990 3/1960 Austria......................4l5/219B PATENTEDMIU m2 SHEET 1 OF 2 INVENTOR If. MCCARTY :E' ,TJZ'

ATTORNEY WlLLlA 1 AIR-CONDITIONER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION casing means mountable within an opening into a.

room, air-conditioning means contained within the casing, and blower means contained within the casing for drawing air from the room into the casing and proximate to the air-conditioning means for conditioning thereby and discharging the conditioned air to the room. U.S. Pat. No. 2,942,439 describes a typical prior-art form of such conventional units, wherein the blower housing has only a single air discharge port.

Frequently, the room that is to have its air conditioned by such an air-conditioner unit is a sleeping room and, hence, it is desirable that the noise generated by the unit be minimized.

ln accordance with a particular aspect of the present invention, it has been found that by providing the housing of the blower means that is mountedwithin the casing of a self-contained room air-conditioner unit of the aforedescribed type with plural air discharge ports instead of the conventional single air discharge port, one can either reduce the noise level generated by the airconditioner unit without concurrent reduction in the flow rate of air-conditioned thereby or, alternatively, maintain the previous noise level generated by the prior-art type structure while increasing the flow rate of air that can be conditioned by the improved units airconditioning means.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,472,146 describes a vehicle air-circulating system employing a blower housing having plural air discharge ports. However, its blower is not incorporated in a self-contained air-conditioner unit and the patentee is silent regarding noise reduction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Basically, the improved air-conditioner of the present invention comprises casing means mountable within an opening into a room, air-conditioning means contained within the casing, and blower means contained within the casing for drawing air from the room into the casing and proximate to the air-conditioning means for conditioning thereby and then discharging the conditioned air to the room. In particular accordance with the present invention, the blower means that is contained within the air-conditioner casing has an impeller rotatably journalled between the two spaced apart blower housing walls with at least one of the two housing walls having an air inlet opening and is provided with scroll means which can perform a dual function of bridging the two housing walls and also providing a plurality of air discharge ports from the housing. Preferably, the scroll means also provide baffie means for separating air streams discharged from the plural ports and the ports are arranged tangentially to the impeller and are spaced apart from one another by an acute angle.

The improved arrangement of the present invention is particularly advantageous over the aforedescribed prior-art units in that it permits either reduction of the noise level generated by an air-conditioner unit without concurrent reduction in the flow of air conditioned thereby, or alternatively, maintenance of the previous noise level generated by the prior-art type structure while increasing the volume of air that can be conditioned by the improved units air-conditioning means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a somewhat schematic, partly-broken, fragmentary room-side perspective view of a presently preferred form of an improved air-conditioner that is provided in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partly-broken, partly-sectioned, enlarged fragmentary top plan view of the air-conditioner of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EIVIBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, there is illustrated a presently preferred embodiment of an improved self-contained air-conditioning unit or room-air conditioner 10 that is provided in accordance with the present invention. The air-conditioner 10 comprises a generally hollow box-like casing 11 that can be easily mounted within an opening 12 into a room, such as can be provided by a hole in the building wall, a window, or the like, in such a manner that a front or interior portion of the casing 11 faces interiorly of the room, and a rear or exterior portion of the casing 11 is exposed to air outside the building.

The casing 11 has spaced apart top and bottom walls, a pair of spaced apart side walls, a rear end wall (not shown), and an open front end that is provided with a foraminous cover or grille 13, which can be removed therefrom to permit access to the casing interior. Removably contained within the casing 11 is a generally horizontal tray or pan 1.4. This pan 14 has a barrier or partition 15 mounted generally vertically thereon that can extend across the interior of the casing 11 and divide the casing interior into a front or roomair chamber 16 and a rear or outside-air chamber 17.

As best shown in FIG. 2, air-conditioningmeans, including a room-air heat exchanger 18, are mounted on the pan 14 within the room-air chamber 16, while an outside-air heat exchanger 19 and a fluid compressor 20 are mounted on the pan 14 within the outside-air chamber 17. The two

heat exchangers

18 and 19 and the compressor 20 are fluid-connected in a series flow relationship by means of suitable conduits (not shown in detail) in a well-known manner to form a conventional compressor-condenser-evaporator refrigerating system, wherein one of the

heat exchangers

18 or 19 functions to absorb heat and the other heat exchanger functions to dissipate heat. Usually, the room-air heat exchanger 18 functions as an evaporator or heat-absorbing element, to cool and dehumidify room air that is circulated through it for conditioning by it. In such an arrangement, the outside-air heat exchanger 19 serves as the condenser or heatdissipating element of the system. However, it is not uncommon to include provisions for reversing the functions of the

heat exchangers

18 and 19 whereby the room-air heat exchanger 18 can be caused to condition the room air by adding heat to it.

Supported on the barrier is a fan 21 for circulating outdoor air through the casing outside-air chamber 17 and past the outside-air heat exchanger 19. This fan 21 includes a rotary electric motor 22 of a well-known type that has its housing 23 suitably secured to the rear or exterior side of the barrier 15. As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the motor 22 has a first output shaft 24 which extends toward the outside-air heat exchanger 19 and is connected to the fan 21, and an oppositely extending second output shaft 25 that is rotatably journalled in a sealed bearing 26 that is mounted in the barrier 15. This second output shaft 25 is connected to an impeller 27 for blower means 28 that are mounted within the room-air chamber 16 between the barrier 15 and the room-air heat exchanger 18 for drawing air from the room into the room-air chamber 16 and through or past the room-air heat exchanger 18 for conditioning thereby and then discharging the thus conditioned air to the room.

The blower means impeller or fan 27 is contained within a housing 29 that includes a pair of generally vertically arranged housing walls, one of which is formed by a portion of the barrier 15 and the other of which 30 is located between the barrier 15 and the room-air heat exchanger 18 and is provided with agenerally circular air inlet opening 31. The rotational axis of the impeller 27 (the central axis of the motor output shaft 25) is preferably aligned with the center of the blower air inlet opening 31 and arranged generally perpendicular to the two

housing walls

15 and 30. The

blower housing 29 further includes scroll means 32 which will be hereinafter described in detail, that can perform a dual function of bridging the two

blower housing walls

15 and 30 and also providing a plurality of air discharge ports (two

air discharge ports

33 and 34 as best shown in FIGS. 1 and 4) from the blower housing 29.

outlet portions

42 and 43 that are arranged tangentially -to the center of the air inlet opening 31, with each havingits outer periphery including a tangential section 42a, 43a and a linear section 42b and 43b. The scroll means 32 of the present invention include a first scroll member 32A and a second scroll member 32B. The first scroll member 32A is considerably larger than the second 323 and bridges all of the arcuate outer periphery of the forward housing wall to the portion of the barrier 15 forming the blower housing rear wall, along with the tangential section 42a of the outlet portion 42, while the second or smaller scroll member 32B bridges only the tangential section 43a of the other outlet portion 43 to the barrier 15. With this arrangement, the space between the two blower

housing side walls

15 and 30 is left uncovered by the scroll means 32 adjacent the linear sections 42b and 43b of the two

outletportions

42 and 43 of the forward housing wall 30 to thereby respectively provide the dual

air discharge ports

33 and 34 from the blower housing 29.

The motor 22. is electrically-connected such that, upon energization, it will cause the impeller 27 to rotate in a direction (clockwise as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4) such that the room air will be drawn inwardly thereby into the blower housing 29 through the inlet opening 31 generally parallel to the rotational axis 25 of the impeller 27 and will be discharged generally tangentially to the impeller rotational axis 25, through the

dual discharge ports

33 and 34.

Preferably, one of the dual discharge ports 33 is vertically arranged adjacent one of the room-air chamber side walls 35, while the other port 34 is angularly spaced apart from it by a bridging portion of the scroll member 328 covering an acute angle of less than 90,

- such that both of the

ports

33 and 34 can discharge air The room-air chamber 16 is further defined by a pair of

walls

35 and 36 which extend generally upward'from the pan l4 and forward from the opposite ends of the barrier 15 to form the room-air chamber side walls and by another wall 37 which extends over the upper edges of the barrier 15 and the

walls

35 and 36 to form the room-air chamber top wall. The part of the room-air chamber 16 that is located toward the room side of the room-side or forward blower housing wall 30 is divided into an upper front or air-discharge portion 38 and a lower front or air-intake portion 39 by a divider plate 40 that extends generally horizontally between the

chamber side walls

35 and 36, with the room-air heat exchanger 18 being located in one part of the lower front portion 39 and control means 41 being located in another part thereof.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4, the blower housing forward wall 30 has its outer periphery made generally concentric with, but, of course, larger than the outer circumference of the impeller 27 and generally arcuate except for two angularly spaced apart into the upper or air-discharge portion 38 of the roomair chamber 16, and a portion 32B of the. smaller secondscroll member 32B is bent upwardly and engagedwith the room-air chamber top wall 37 to provide baflle means to split the room-air chamber upper or air-discharge portion 38 into two parts and thereby separate the two air streams that are respectively discharged from the two

ports

33 and 34. Another baffle member 44 is also provided which extends laterally between one of the terminal ends of the larger first scroll member 32A, the other side wall 36 of the room air chamber 16, the barrier 15 and the divider plate 40 to fluid-separate the discharge port 34 from the roomair chamber lower or air-intake portion 39.

With the aforedescribed embodiment of the improved air conditioner 10 of the present invention, room air circulation will be as shown in FIG. 1 upon energization of the motor 22 to cause rotation of the blower impeller 27 in the direction of arrow 45. Air will be drawn from the room into the air-conditioner lower or air-intake portion 39 in a stream indicated by a single arrow 46, passing through the air-conditioning means 18 and into the blower housing 29 generally parallel to the rotational axis 25 of the impeller 27 via the air inlet opening 31. Then, this air, which has been conditioned by its passage through the air-conditioning means 18, will now be discharged from the blower housing 29 generally tangentially to the impeller rotational axis 25 in two separate air streams indicated by arrows 47 and 48 via the two

discharge ports

33 and 34,

respectively. One of these two conditioned-air streams 47 will exit vertically from one of the two blower discharge ports 33 and will impinge upon the top wall 37 and upper portion of one side wall 35 of the roomair chamber 16, the upper portion of the barrier 15 located toward one side of the baffle portion 323 of the smaller scroll member 328 and the exterior of the smaller scroll member 323 and will be forwardly deflected thereby and discharged back into the room through that part of the room-air chamber upper or airdischarge portion 38 that is located on one side of the baffle portion 32B and the part of the grille 13 which covers it.

On the other hand, the other of these two conditioned-air stream 48 will exit from the other blower discharge port 34 which is horizontally oriented and will impinge on the room-air chamber other side wall 36 and top wall 37, the upper portion of the barrier 15 located toward the other side of the scroll meansbafile portion 328 and on the baffle member 44 and will be deflected forwardly thereby to be discharged back into the room through the other part of the room-air chamber upper or air-discharge portion 38 which is located on the opposite side of the scroll means baffle portion 328 and the part of the grille 13 covering it.

By employing the aforedescribed dual discharge blower embodiment of the improved air-conditioner of the present invention, in substitution for the previously-noted conventional single discharge blower units having a motor of comparable rating to the motor 26 which is employed in the improved unit 10, it has been found that one may either reduce the noise level generated by the air-conditioner unit without concurrent reduction in flow of the air conditioned thereby or, alternatively, maintain the previous noise level generated by the prior-art type structure while increasing the volume of air that can be conditioned by the improved unit. By way of illustration, there now sets forth two typical examples, with Example I being illustrative of reduction of noise level without concurrent reduction in conditioned-air flow, and Example 11 being illustrative of an alternative case wherein noise level is maintained substantially constant while the volume of air that can be conditioned is increased. These two examples follow:

EXAMPLE I Esmm g V L 29YL Single Dis- Dual Di scharge Air charge Air Conditioner Conditioner Blower Motor Rated Horsepower 1/5 HP 1/5 HP Air Flow Through Room- Air Heat Exchanger (Cubic Feet/Minute) 460 464 Noise Level (Phons) 74 71 EXAMPLE II Conventional Improved Single Dis- Dual Dischar e Air char e Air Con itioners Con itioner Blower Motor Rated Horsepower M; HP HP Air Flow Through Room-Air Heat Exchan er (Cubic Feet inute) 341 409 Noise Level (Phons) 71 71 It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that while there has been described what, at the present, is considered to be the preferred embodiment of this invention in accordance with the patent statutes, changes may be made in the disclosed apparatus without actually departing from the true spirit and scope of this invention. It is, therefore, intended that the appended claims shall cover such modifications and applications that may not depart from the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An air conditioner comprising:

a casing having top, bottom and side walls and a generally open front wall provided with a grille;

a horizontal partition dividing the front portion of said easing into a lower air-intake portion and an upper air-discharge portion which extends substantially the width of said casing between said casing side walls;

air-conditioning means contained within said casing;

blower means contained within said casing below and rearwardly from said partition and adjacent one side wall of said casing for drawing air from said room past said air-conditioning means for conditioning thereby and then discharging the conditioned air through said air-discharge portion to said room;

said blower housing including scroll means having a first vertically oriented air discharge port adjacent one side wall of said casing and communicating with one end portion of said air discharge portion rearwardly of said partition and a second horizontally oriented air discharge port communicating with the other end portion of said air discharge port above said partition; and

baffle means on said scroll and engaging said top wall for separating the air streams discharged from said discharge ports.

Claims

1. An air conditioner comprising: a casing having top, bottom and side walls and a generally open front wall provided with a grille; a horizontal partition dividing the front portion of said casing into a lower air-intake portion and an upper air-discharge portion which extends substantially the width of said casing between said casing side walls; air-conditioning means contained within said casing; blower means contained within said casing below and rearwardly from said partition and adjacent one side wall of said casing for drawing air from said room past said air-conditioning means for conditioning thereby and then discharging the conditioned air through said air-discharge portion to said room; said blower housing including scroll means having a first vertically oriented air discharge port adjacent one side wall of said casing and communicating with one end portion of said air discharge portion rearwardly of said partition and a second horizontally oriented air discharge port communicating with the other end portion of said air discharge port above said partition; and baffle means on said scroll and engaging said top wall for separating the air streams discharged from said discharge ports.