WO2009036534A2

WO2009036534A2 - Air inlet for air conditioning unit

Info

Publication number: WO2009036534A2
Application number: PCT/BR2007/000241
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rafael Schabbach; Luciano Da Luz Moraes; Regis Silva; Carlos Afonso Tesche
Original assignee: Carrier Corporation
Priority date: 2007-09-18
Filing date: 2007-09-18
Publication date: 2009-03-26
Also published as: WO2009036534A3; BRPI0722031A2; CN101802529A

Abstract

An air conditioning unit is disclosed that includes a front portion including a frame. The frame provides an air passageway such as an air inlet. A front panel is supported relative to the frame and has a perimeter with at least a portion of the perimeter spaced from the frame to provide a gap between the perimeter and the frame that is in communication with the air passageway. In one example, top and bottom edges of the perimeter correspond to a height of the frame and air conditioning unit to provide a more aesthetically pleasing appearance.

Description

AIR INLET FOR AIR CONDITIONING UNIT

BACKGROUND

This disclosure relates to an air inlet for an air conditioning unit. More particularly, the disclosure relates to a front cover and frame arrangement for providing an air inlet to a room air conditioner.

Room air conditioning units include one portion that extends into an interior space of a room and another portion that is exposed to the outside environment. Typically, an air inlet and an air outlet are provided on a front portion of the room air conditioning unit that extends into the room space. The front side includes a front panel and louvers that circulate air between the air conditioning unit and the room. The air inlet is typically much larger than the air outlet, which is typically provided at one side or corner of the front portion.

In some air conditioning units, the air inlet is provided by a front panel that is removable relative to a frame to provide access to a filter. The front panel includes a perimeter that is sealed to the frame, which surrounds and abuts the perimeter of the front panel. All of the air flows through an exterior surface of the front panel since the air is not permitted to flow past its perimeter. The frame includes a vertical top wall that provides part of the front surface of the air conditioning unit such that the exterior surface of the front panel is significantly less than the height of the frame. Exposing the frame above and below the front panel is aesthetically undesirable to some customers. What is needed is a front panel frame arrangement that is more aesthetically pleasing while providing a functional air inlet. SUMMARY

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 view of an example air conditioning unit.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the air conditioning unit illustrating the flow of air into and out of a front portion of the air conditioning unit.

Figure 3A is a cross-sectional view of the air conditioning unit taken along lines 3 A-3 A in Figure 2.

Figure 3B is a cross-sectional view of the air conditioning unit shown in Figure 2 taken along lines 3B-3B. Figure 4 is a front perspective view of a frame and front panel, which provides the front portion of the air conditioning unit.

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 wrapper 14. The base pan 12 supports a compressor 16 that pumps refrigerant to a condenser 18. An expansion device (not shown) is arranged in a known manner, for example, upstream from the condenser 18. The expanded refrigerant flows to an evaporator 20 before returning to the compressor 16. A motor 24 blows air through the evaporator 20 using a blower 26 to provide cooled air through louvers 22, which is exposed to an interior room for 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.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, in one example, the wrapper 14 includes flanges 38 to which a frame 21 mounts. The frame 21 provides support for the louvers 22 and a front panel 23. Air enters the air conditioning unit 10 from the front panel 23 and exits through the louvers 22 to provide conditioned air to the room. 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 40 for providing access to the control box 36 from an exterior surface 44 of the front panel 23. In one example, the control box 36 includes user controls or knobs 42 that extend through the front panel 23 and can be viewed and manipulated from the room.

Referring to Figure 2, the frame 21 and front panel 23 provide an air passageway or air inlet 46, which supplies inlet air I into the air conditioning unit 10. The inlet air I is drawn into the unit 10 by the blower 26. Air outlets 48 are provided on either side of the front panel 23 at the louvers 22 to provide outlet air O to the room after being cooled by the evaporator 20.

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. The blower 26 draws inlet air I through the filter frame 25 where it passes through the evaporator 20 and into the blower 26. The blower 26 distributes the cooled air to lateral air passageways provided on either side of the evaporator housing 49, which directs the cooled air out the louvers 22.A cover 50 is provided by each of the louvers 22 to provide an aesthetic appearance. The vertical louvers 22 are rotated from an open position in which the vents are visible (Fig. 1) to the closed position (Fig. 2) to appear more visually pleasing.

The front panel 23 is spaced from the frame 21 and generally follows a smooth, uniform contour of the covers 50 in the example shown. The front panel 23 includes a perimeter 52 that is spaced from the frame 21 to provide a gap G about at least a portion of the perimeter 52. This gap G provides the air inlet 46 into the unit 10. The perimeter 52 includes top and bottom edges 54, 55 adjoined by opposing side edges 56 in the example. In the example shown, the inlet air I flows behind the top edge 54 and side edges 56 through the gap G into the air passageway provided by the frame 21. Inlet air I is also permitted to flow through the front panel 23 through slots 58 in one¹ example. The slots 58 may be omitted, if desired.

Referring to Figures 3A-4, a distance D is provided by hinges 62 and latches 64, best shown in Figure 4, which act as stand-offs to space the front panel 23 from the frame 21. The distance D provides the desired gap G about the perimeter 52.

The frame 21 includes a top upper wall 60 that is generally horizontal. In one example, the top outer wall is generally coplanar with the top edge 54 so that the top portion of the frame 21 is hidden by the front panel 23. The front panel 23 also covers the bottom portion of the frame 21. The front panel 23 extends from the top edge 54 to the bottom edge 55 and corresponds to a height H of the front portion of the air conditioning unit 10 and frame 21.

The frame 21 includes side walls 66, which are arcuate in shape.

The side walls 66 direct the inlet air I in a desired path from the side edges 56 to behind the front panel 23. The side edges 56 overlap at least a portion of the side walls 66 to hide the filter 27.

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 front portion including a frame that provides an air passageway; a front panel that is supported relative to the frame and has a perimeter with at least a portion of the perimeter spaced from the frame providing a gap between the perimeter and frame that is in communication with the air passageway.

2. The air conditioning unit according to claim 1, wherein the frame provides an air inlet and an air outlet, the air passageway corresponding to the air inlet.

3. The air conditioning unit according to claim 2, wherein the frame provides a filter frame for supporting a filter, the filter frame arranged between the front panel and an evaporator in fluid communication with the air passageway.

4. The air conditioning unit according to claim 3, comprising a blower adapted to receive air from the air inlet and expel cooled air from the evaporator to the air outlet.

5. The air conditioning unit according to claim 2, wherein a cover is provided by a louver configured for rotation between open and closed positions, the cover arranged over the air. outlet in a closed position, the cover and front panel providing a generally smooth contour.

6. The air conditioning unit according to claim 1, wherein the front panel includes an exterior surface having an aperture with a user control exposed by the aperture.

7. The air conditioning unit according to claim 1, wherein the front panel includes multiple slots in communication with the air passageway.

8. The air conditioning unit according to claim I₅ wherein the perimeter is arranged at a distance from the frame to provide the gap.

9. The air conditioning unit according to claim 8, comprising attachment features joining the front panel and frame to one another, the attachment features providing the distance.

10. The air conditioning unit according to claim 9, wherein the attachment features include at least one of a latch and a hinge.

11. The air conditioning unit according to claim 1 , wherein the perimeter includes opposing side edges arranged adjacent to spaced apart air outlets.

12. The air conditioning unit according to claim 1, wherein the perimeter includes a top edge and the frame includes a top outer wall arranged generally horizontal and transverse to the front panel, the top edge and the top outer wall generally coplanar with one another.

13. The air conditioning unit according to claim 11, wherein the frame includes side walls that extend from behind the side edges toward air outlets.

14. The air conditioning unit according to claim 13, wherein the side walls are arcuate in shape.

15. The air conditioning unit according to claim 12, wherein the perimeter includes a bottom edge opposite the top edge and providing a height which corresponds to a height of the front portion.

16. The air conditioning unit according to claim 1, comprising a wrapper supporting the frame.

17. The air conditioning unit according to claim 16, comprising a base pan supporting an evaporator and a condenser, the wrapper secured to the base pan.