WO2008077222A2

WO2008077222A2 - Fresh air command lever for an air conditioning unit

Info

Publication number: WO2008077222A2
Application number: PCT/BR2007/000243
Authority: WO
Inventors: Regis Silva; Rafael Schabbach; Luciano Da Luz Moraes
Original assignee: Carrier Corporation
Priority date: 2006-12-22
Filing date: 2007-09-18
Publication date: 2008-07-03
Also published as: WO2008077217A2; CN101611268A; WO2008077222A3; BRPI0622214A2; WO2008077217A3; CN101611268B

Abstract

An air conditioning unit is provided that includes a wall separating first and second sides, and an aperture providing communication between them. A command lever includes a portion cooperating with the aperture in response to vertical angular movement of the command lever to variably obstruct the aperture and selectively exhaust indoor air to an outside environment. The command lever is located in an outlet air passageway. First and second locating features are respectively provided by the command lever and wall. The first and second locating features coact with one another to locate the command lever relative to the aperture during the angular movement to provide precise alignment and desired feel. The portion seals against the wall to block the aperture in a closed position, and spaced from the wall to permit fresh air to flow from the first side to the second side in an opened position.

Description

FRESH AIR COMMAND LEVER FOR AN AIR CONDITIONING UNIT

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present invention is a continuation-in-part of PCT Application No. PCT/BR2006/000300, filed 12/22/2006.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure relates to an air conditioning unit, for example, used in window mounted room air conditioning applications. More particularly, the application relates to a command lever used to exhaust air to the outdoor (or external) ambient. Fresh air replaces the exhausted air through the openings of the indoor ambient, for example window or door clearances.

Some air conditioning units, for example, window mounted units used to condition room air, typically employ a manually operated command lever. The command lever selectively exhausts air to the outside environment. The command lever is moved between opened and closed positions to variably obstruct an aperture that fluidly communicates inside air to the outside environment.

Two command lever movements have been used to variably obstruct the aperture. In one example, the command lever is manipulated angularly using a handle that extends from a front grille exposed to the room. The command lever is supported by a pivot on the outlet nozzle. A portion at the end of the command lever seals against the aperture in the closed position to prevent a flow of air to the outside environment. The command lever is moved angularly to an opened position to exhaust indoor air to the outside environment. One problem is that the tolerance stack-ups of the components, including the command lever, can result in a misalignment of the portion relative to the aperture so that it does not seal in the closed position. Further, the command lever may have an undesirably imprecise feel.

Another approach uses a command lever actuatable in a longitudinal direction. The end of the command lever telescopically moves in and out of the aperture, which provides alignment of the command lever relative to the aperture. However, the longitudinal actuation of the command lever may be undesirable in that it does not provide an intuitive or visually clear indication of the position of the command lever.

What is needed is a command lever that exhausts indoor air to the outside environment while providing precise alignment and intuitive operation.

SUMMARY

An air conditioning unit is provided that includes a wall separating first and second sides. The wall includes an aperture providing communication between the first and second sides. The first side is exposed to the outside environment, and the second side is exposed to the recirculated conditioned room air, in one example. A command lever includes a portion cooperating with the aperture in response to vertical angular movement of the command lever to variably obstruct the aperture and selectively exhaust indoor air to the outside environment. The command lever is located in an outlet air passageway. First and second locating features are respectively provided by the command lever and wall. The first and second locating features coact with one another to locate the command lever relative to the aperture during the angular movement to provide precise alignment and desired feel. The portion seals against the wall to block the aperture in a closed position. The portion is spaced from the wall to permit that the internal air flow from the second side to the first side when in an opened position. Fresh air replaces the exhausted air through the openings of the indoor ambient environment, for example window or door clearances.

These and other features of the disclosure 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 is an exploded perspective view of an example air conditioning unit.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the unit.

Figure 3 a is a front perspective view of a portion of an outlet air passageway without an example command lever. •

Figure 3 b is a rear perspective view of a partition with the command lever installed.

Figure 4a is a front perspective view of the command lever in a closed position.

Figure 4b is a front perspective view of the command lever shown in an opened position. Figure 5a is a partial view of the command lever in the closed position.

Figure 5b is a partial view of the command lever in the open position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

An air conditioning unit 10 is shown in Figure 1. The unit 10 has a housing that includes a base pan 12 and a wrapper assembly 14. The base pan 12 supports a compressor 16 that pumps refrigerant to a condenser 18. An expansion device (not shown) is arranged as know, for example, upstream from the condenser 18. The expanded refrigerant flows to an evaporator 20 before returning to the compressor 16. A motor 24 draws air through a front panel 23 and the evaporator 20 using a blower 26 to provide cooled air through side louvers 22 on a frame 21, which are exposed to an interior room, for example.

Refrigerant from the evaporator 20 is exposed to the outside environment in one example. A fan 30 is driven by the motor 24 to blow air across the condenser 18 to reject heat from the refrigerant to the outside environment. A condenser orifice or shroud 32 provides a seal between the condenser 18 and the fan 30. In one example, the housing includes a top cover 34 arranged between the shroud 32 and condenser 18 to provide an enclosure about the fan 30. A control box 36 communicates with the compressor 16 and motor 24 in a known manner to provide a desired conditioned air to the room.

The wrapper 14 includes flanges 37 to which the frame 21 mounts. The frame 21 provides support for the front panel 23 and the louvers 22, which are enclosed by covers 19 (Fig. 2) when in the closed position. The covers 19 are provided by a surface of the vertical louvers 22). Referring to Figure 2, air enters the air conditioning unit 10 from about a perimeter of the front panel 23 (and slots in the depicted example) and exits through the louvers 22 to provide conditioned air to the room. Hinges 92 and latches 94 secure the front panel 23 to the frame 21 and space the perimeter of the front panel 23 from the frame 21. The frame 21 also includes a filter frame 25 for supporting a filter 27. In the example shown, the front panel 23 includes one or more apertures for providing access to the control box 36 from an exterior surface of the front panel 23. In one example, the control box 36 includes user controls or knobs 39 that extend through the front panel 23 and can be viewed and manipulated from the room.

The air conditioning unit 10 includes an evaporating housing 49, which supports the evaporator 20, best shown in Figure 1. A bottom and top housing portion 45, 47 extend between the evaporator housing 49 and the partition 28 to provide a chamber within which the blower 26 is arranged. Referring to Figures 3a and 3b, the partition 28 includes a wall 38, which is provided by the bottom housing portion 45 in the example, separating first and second sides 40, 42. The first side 40 is in communication with the outside environment. The second side 42 is in communication with room air R (Figure 2), which is recirculated conditioned room air. Continually recirculating conditioned room air may result in stale air, in which case it is desirable to introduce fresh air. The stale E is exhausted through an aperture 50 in the wall 38, and fresh air is introduced through the indoor ambient openings like window and door clearances.

The partition 28 provides a room air chamber 46 receiving the conditioned recirculated room air R through the side louvers 22. The wall 38 separates the room air chamber 46 on the second side 42 from an outside air chamber 44 on the first side 40, which may be provided by a space located within the wrapper assembly 14.

The wall 38 includes an aperture 50 variably obstructed by a command lever 52 that is manually manipulated vertically from the room using a handle 66, shown in Figures 3a-4b. The wall 38 is curved, and the aperture 50 is arranged where two surfaces adjoin one another. The command lever 52 includes a portion 54 that cooperates with the aperture 50 in response to vertical angular movement of the command lever 52. First and second locating features 56, 60 coact with one another to locate the command lever 52 relative to the wall 38 during the angular movement vertically.

In the example, the command lever 52 includes a first wall 72 that abuts the vertical surface of the wall 38 in both the closed and opened positions. The locating features 56, 60 prevent the command lever 52 from moving laterally so that movement feels more precise to the user. This also ensures that the command lever 52 fully seats against the wall 38 when in the closed position (Fig. 4a) so that the aperture 50 is sealed shut.

In the example shown, the first locating feature 56 is provided by a protrusion, and the second locating feature 60 is provided by the aperture 50 such that the protrusion 56 is received within the aperture 50 throughout the angular movement. The evaporator housing 49 provides a hole 61 that receives a pivot 62 from the command lever 52. The pivot 62 is provided by a split pin (Fig. 3b) that enables the pivot 62 to deflect as it is inserted into the hole 61. The split pin includes a tapered end to facilitate insertion, best shown in Figure 3b. The split pin also provides a spring load to generate a frictional force on the evaporator housing hole, which maintains the command lever 52 in the position selected by the user. The arm of the command lever 52 rotates about the pivot 62.

Referring to Figures 5a and 5b, structure 80 on the evaporator housing 49 surrounding the hole 61 limits the angular travel of the command lever 52. The structure 80 is provided by arcuate, spaced apart stops that limit the movement of the command lever 52. Protrusions 81 extend from the command lever 52 and cooperate with recesses 82 to locate the command lever 52 in the opened and closed positions. In the example shown, there is a discrete recess 82 in each arcuate stop for each of the positions.

Referring to Figure 4b, the portion 54 includes a surface 74 that is spaced from the wall 38 to provide a gap 76 when in the opened position. Stale air E flows through the gap 76 when the command lever 52 is opened. Additionally, openings 70 may be provided in a second wall 68 of the protrusion 56 to provide additional air flow through the portion 54.

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

Claims

1. An air conditioning unit comprising: a wall separating first and second sides, and including an aperture providing fluid communication between the first and second sides; a command lever having a portion cooperating with the aperture for variably obstructing the aperture in response to vertical angular movement of the command lever; and first and second locating features respectively provided by the command lever and wall that coact with one another for locating the command lever relative to the aperture during the angular movement.

2. The unit according to claim 1, comprising a housing including a partition providing outside air and room air chambers, the wall separating the outside air and room air chambers.

3. The unit according to claim 2, wherein the command lever is pivotally supported by a frame, the partition adjoining the frame to provide the room air chamber, which corresponds to an outlet air passageway.

4. The unit according to claim 3, wherein the frame provides outlet louvers in communication with the outlet air passageway, the command lever pivotally supported in proximity to the outlet louvers, and a handle of the command lever extending through the outlet louvers.

5. The unit according to claim 4, wherein the portion provides a protrusion extending from the surface, the protrusion received in the aperture for providing vertical and horizontal alignment of the command lever relative to the wall, the aperture in wall provided at a curved surface and an adjoining surface.

6. The unit according to claim 4, wherein the portion includes a first wall extending through the aperture, the first wall including an opening for exhausting conditioned room air from the second side to the first side with the command lever in an opened position.

7. The unit according to claim 6, wherein the first wall is spaced from the aperture in an opened position and in abutment with the wall in the closed position.

8. The unit according to claim 1, wherein the portion horizontally and vertically locates the command lever relative to the wall.

9. An air conditioning unit comprising: a frame providing spaced apart outlet passageways and a central inlet passageway arranged there between; a partition separating first and second sides, and including an aperture providing fluid communication between the first and second sides; a command lever arranged in one of the outlet passageways and having a portion cooperating with the aperture for variably obstructing the aperture in response to angular movement of the command lever; and first and second locating features respectively provided by the command lever and partition that coact with one another for locating the command lever relative to the aperture during the angular movement.

10. The unit according to claim 11, comprising an evaporator and blower in fluid communication with the room air chamber for providing cooled air to a room.