WO2008077219A2

WO2008077219A2 - Two part scroll housing for window cooler

Info

Publication number: WO2008077219A2
Application number: PCT/BR2006/000302
Authority: WO
Inventors: Regis Silva; Rafael Schabbach; Carlos Afonso Tesche
Original assignee: Springer Carrier Ltda.
Priority date: 2006-12-22
Filing date: 2006-12-22
Publication date: 2008-07-03
Also published as: BRPI0622203A2; WO2008077219A3

Abstract

A window air conditioning unit is provided with a scroll housing, or the housing for the evaporator blower, which is formed of two pieces. The two pieces include the formation of a hole that allows a shaft for driving the blower to extend into the scroll housing. The blower is driven by the same motor which drives a condenser fan. By removing the one scroll housing from the other, the sub-assembly of the fan, its motor, a the blower, can be removed as a one-piece item for maintenance or repair.

Description

"WINDOW AIR CONDITIONING UNIT WITH TWO PART SCROLL HOUSING TO ALLOW REMOVAL OF THE FAN MOTOR AND BLOWER AS A ONE PIECE SUB-ASSEMBLY"

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This application relates to a window air conditioning unit, wherein the scroll, or housing surrounding the evaporator blower, is formed of two pieces, such that a first piece can be removed and a sub-assembly of the motor, the blower and the condenser fan can be removed as a single item.

Window air conditioning units are known, and typically include a single housing enclosing a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator, and a fan or blower moving air over both the condenser and the evaporator. In one known arrangement, a single motor rotates to drive both a blower for moving air over the evaporator, and a fan for moving air over the condenser.

As known, in a window air conditioning unit, there is an inside space and an outside space. The condenser sits in the outside space while the evaporator sits in the inside space. A housing for mounting the blower must thus be sealed from the location where the fan is mounted, in the type of window air conditioning unit where a single motor drives both. In one known arrangement, the blower housing, or "scroll housing" surrounds the blower, and provides a mount structure which closely surrounds a drive shaft for the blower. Thus, the motor can be positioned in the outside space with its shaft extending through the opening in the scroll housing, and such that the blower can be on the inside space. In this arrangement, the scroll housing is positioned to direct air driven by the blower over the evaporator, and radially outwardly into a discharge conduit.

One problem with the above-described arrangement is that if a repair is to be done to the blower, its motor, or the fan, the sub-assembly must be disassembled before it can be removed from the housing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the disclosed embodiment of this invention, the scroll housing for surrounding the blower is provided as two pieces. This facilitates the removal of one piece and allows the sub-assembly of the fan motor and blower to be removed as a one-piece item for maintenance and repair.

In a method according to this invention, the scroll housing is provided as two pieces. A first upper piece is removed, and then a sub-assembly of a fan, motor and blower can be removed as a one-piece item.

These and other features of the present invention can be best understood from the following specification and drawings, the following of which is a brief description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 shows a window air conditioning unit.

Figure 2 shows the disassembly of a scroll housing portion, and the removal of a sub-assembly thereafter. Figure 3 shows a detail of the scroll housing and its two pieces.

Figure 4 shows other details.

Figure 5 shows a locking feature.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Figure 1 shows the window air conditioning unit 20 including a compressor 22 for compressing a refrigerant and delivering it downstream to a condenser 24. A fan 26 moves air over the condenser 24. A motor 28 drives the fan 26 and also drives a blower 30. Blower 30 pulls air through a front grill 34 and openings 38, and across an evaporator 32. A shaft 52 extends through a scroll housing 50 to drive the blower 30. As can be appreciated, the fan 26 and the blower 30 are driven by a common motor 28. Housing 50 surrounds the blower 30. A shaft 52 drives the blower 30 and extends through an opening 100, 102 in the scroll housing 50 (see Figure 3).

The scroll housing 50 surrounds the blower 30, and causes air to be thrown radially outwardly and into a discharge conduit 100. Discharge conduit 100 delivers the conditioned air through louvers 44, and outwardly of a portion 36 of the front grill 34.

While the invention is disclosed as an air conditioning unit, it should be understood that the present invention would also extend to a heat pump. For purposes of this application, the term "air conditioning unit" should be interpreted to extend to heat pumps, which can operate in an air conditioning mode, or in a heating mode. Further, fluid connections are generally not shown in this figure, however, a worker or ordinary skill in the art would recognize how to fluidly connect the various components for delivering refrigerant through the air conditioning unit 20.

As shown in Figure 2, the scroll housing 50 includes a first part having a discharge chamber 58 generally surrounding the blower 30, and a second part 54 having an internal surface 56 that operates in conjunction with the surface 58 to deliver air downstream to a housing portion 60, and into the discharge passage 100.

As can be appreciated from Figure 2, the second housing portion 54 can be removed vertically. This allows the sub-assembly of the blower 30, motor 28, fan 26 and fan housing 152 to be removed as a one-piece sub-assembly. Thus, due to the inclusion of the two-piece scroll housing, the present invention facilitates maintenance and/or replacement of the sub-assembly 30/28/26.

As shown in Figure 3, a shaft passage for allowing passage of the shaft 52 is provided by curved portions 100 and 102 on the scroll housing components 50 and 54, respectively. As shown in Figure 4, surfaces 112 and 110 are formed on the two scroll housing portion 54 and 50, respectively, to provide a generally air tight seal along those surfaces. Since the second housing portion 54 has an angled inner edge 120, it generally falls into a surface 122 of the housing 50 due to gravity. Thus, complex securement devices are not necessary.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, a partition 200 is included in most window air conditioning units, as known. The partition provides a seal between the outside environment and the inside environment. As can be seen in Figure 1, the partition sits just on the outside face of the scroll housing 50. In Figure 2, the partition 200 is shown removed, although it would not actually be removed when the sub-assembly is removed. It is shown removed in this view such that the slot 202 that is included in the partition 200, can be seen. The slot 202 allows the shaft of the sub-assembly to be pulled upwardly, without having to remove the partition.

Another feature is shown in Figure 5. Second housing 54 has the portion 120, which is not as rigid as the outer portion, nor as rigid as the housing portion 50. To provide additional support for the portion 120, a lip 204 is formed on the portion 120, and fits against a lip 206 on the housing portion 50. The partition 200 backs up the lip portion 204 such that additional rigidity is provided to the portion 120. This prevents the portion 120 from contacting the blower 30, which could cause undesirable noise.

In a method of maintaining a window air conditioning unit according to the present invention, the housing portion 54 is removed from the housing portion 50. As mentioned above, there may not need to be any mechanical securement between the two, as gravity would tend to hold the two in place. However, some screws, etc., may also be utilized if necessary to prevent vibration, etc. Once the housing portion 54 is removed, a sub-assembly of the blower 30, motor 28, and fan 26, along with the fan housing 52, can be removed as a one-piece item. Maintenance may then be performed, and a repaired sub- assembly re-inserted into the housing.

Although a preferred embodiment has been disclosed, a worker of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that certain modifications would come within the scope of this invention. For that reason the following claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this invention.

Claims

1. A window air conditioning unit comprising: a housing, said housing enclosing a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator, a fan for moving air over the condenser, and a blower for moving over the evaporator, and a single motor for driving both said fan and said blower; and said blower being surrounded by a scroll housing, a shaft from said motor extending through a wall of said scroll housing to drive said blower, and said scroll housing having an opening for allowing passage of said shaft, said opening being defined by at least two housing portions such that one of said housing portions can be removed, to allow the removal of a sub-assembly of the blower, the fan, and the motor without disconnection of the blower or fan from the motor.

2. The window air conditioning unit as set forth in Claim 1, wherein the scroll housing is formed by a generally large first piece and a removable second piece.

3. The window air conditioning unit as set forth in Claim 2, wherein said removable second piece falls into a locked position through gravity.

4. The window air conditioning unit as set forth in Claim 3, wherein said removable second piece has an inner end which defines a portion of the shaft opening.

5. The window air conditioning unit as set forth in Claim 4, wherein said inner end is angled vertically downwardly and into a mating recess in the first housing piece.

6. The window air conditioning unit as set forth in Claim 3, wherein an interface surface between said first housing piece and said second housing piece includes an outwardly extending portion on one of the two which extends into a groove in the other of the two to provide a relatively fluid tight seal.

7. The window air conditioning unit as set forth in Claim 1, wherein said at least two housing portions surround said blower, and direct air radially outwardly of the blower into an outlet passage.

8. The window air conditioning unit as set forth in Claim 1, wherein a partition is positioned toward said condenser from said scroll housing, and provides a partition between an outside environment and an inside environment when the window air conditioning unit is mounted in a window, and said at least two housing portions including a lip on each of said two housing portions which interfit. and said partition sitting on an outer side of said at least two housing portions to hold said lips of said at least two housing portions together.

9. The window air conditioning unit as set forth in Claim 8, wherein said at least two housing portions include a relatively smaller housing portion and a relatively larger housing portion, and said relatively larger housing portion having said lip on an outside side, with said lip on said relatively larger housing portion being spaced inside from said lip of said relatively smaller housing portion, and with said partition positioned outwardly of said lip on said relatively smaller housing portion.

10. A window air conditioning unit comprising: a housing, said housing enclosing a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator, a fan for moving air over the condenser, and a blower for moving over the evaporator, and a single motor for driving both said fan and said blower; said blower being surrounded by a scroll housing, a shaft from said motor extending through a wall of said scroll housing to drive said blower, and said scroll housing having an opening for allowing passage of said shaft, said opening being defined by at least two housing portions with a generally large first piece and a removable second piece, the removal of the second piece allowing removal of a sub-assembly of the blower, the fan, and the motor without disconnection of the blower or fan from the motor; said removable second housing piece having an inner end which defines a portion of the shaft opening, and said inner end being angled vertically downwardly and into a mating recess in the first housing piece, an interface surface between said first housing piece and said second housing piece includes an outwardly extending portion on one of the two which extends into a groove in the other of the two to provide a relatively fluid tight seal; a partition positioned toward said condenser from said scroll housing to provide a partition between an outside environment and an inside environment when the window air conditioning unit is mounted in a window, said removable second housing piece having a lip on an outside side, a lip on said first piece being spaced inside of said lip of said second piece, and with said partition positioned outside of said lip on said second piece; and said first and second housing pieces surround said blower, and direct air radially outwardly of the blower into an outlet passage.

11. A method of providing maintenance for a window air conditioning unit comprising the steps of:

(1) providing a housing enclosing a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator, a fan for moving air over the condenser, a blower for moving air over the evaporator, and a single motor for driving both said fan and said blower; (2) providing a scroll housing for surrounding said blower, a shaft from said motor extending through a wall of said scroll housing to drive said blower, and said scroll housing having an opening for allowing passage of said shaft, with said opening being defined by a least two housing portion;

(3) removing one of said at least two housing portions from the other;

(4) removing a sub-assembly of the blower, the fan, and the motor without disconnection of the motor or fan from the motor; and

(5) providing maintenance on one of the blower, the fan and the motor.

12. The method as set forth in Claim 11, wherein there are two housing portions.

13. The method as set forth in Claim 12, wherein a vertically upper scroll housing portion is removed from a lower scroll housing portion.

14. The method as set forth in Claim 13, wherein said vertically upper scroll housing portion includes an inner end, which extends vertically downwardly into an opening in said lower scroll housing portions.