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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an improved, self contained air
conditioning unit, and more particularly, to an improved self contained,
combined cooling and heating, air conditioning unit adapted for use in an
apartment building, small office building, townhouse or the like wherein
independent temperature or comfort control for the individual rooms or
sets of rooms is desired, and wherein the exterior wall of the building
comprises, to a relatively large extent, glass or windows.
In recent years, there has been a trend towards providing completely
independent comfort controls for individual apartments, for the separate
office suites in small office buildings, for townhouses and for the like.
The trend has been accelerated due to the shift to condominium ownership
of many such buildings, and additionally, due to the fact that owners have
found it more convenient and economical to free themselves of the burdens
of providing comfort acceptable to the satisfaction of all tenants in a
building.
Generally in the past, such independent comfort control has been achieved
by the utilization of conventional, through the wall, horizontally
disposed air conditioning units on a room to room basis. Alternative air
conditioning systems have been available but have a significant commercial
disadvantage in that such systems require the remote installation of the
condenser component on, for example, building balconies. This, of course,
not only restricts the use of the balconies but in addition, detracts from
the exterior appearance of the building. Also there have been commercially
available air conditioning units which comprise a pair of separate
cabinets stacked one on top of the other. These units are relatively wide
and thus occupy a significant portion of the building perimeter wall. In
addition, access to these units for maintenance and repair is only
available from the exterior of the building.
Furthermore, in the construction of apartments, (high-rises, medium rises
and garden types) economic considerations and zoning densities today
dictate that the architect maximize the use of the building perimeter wall
in terms of room allocation, and it is, therefore, imperative that the
impact of the comfort control equipment on the perimeter "skin" or
exterior wall of the building be held to the minimum. Glass is being more
and more utilized by architects as the "skin" of buildings for economy
reasons and for visual-spacial effects. Conventional, through the wall,
air conditioning units present considerable design problems in buildings
utilizing a glass "skin" both from a practical and aesthetic standpoints.
In addition, the conventional, through the wall air conditioning units
present aesthetic and practical problems with respect to interior of the
rooms. The units are frequently required to be mounted so that the grille
tends to "stare" out into the room from the exterior wall which is often
the focal wall of the room from the standpoint of visual and spacial
emphasis. A separate air conditioning unit is generally required for each
room in order to provide independent room comfort, particularly with
respect to the rooms adjacent to the exterior wall of the building. Also
if such a unit needs to be repaired, the entire unit must either be
removed from the wall or access to the unit must be had from the exterior
of the building.
The improved air conditioning unit of the present invention overcomes the
aforementioned problems with respect to the utilization of conventional,
through the wall, air conditioning units. The improved air conditioning
unit comprises a vertically elongated, relatively narrow, generally
rectangular cabinet which can be disposed in the exterior wall of the
building between adjacent rooms or adjacent windows and which requires
minimal space along the perimeter of the building. This, of course,
maximizes design freedom for the architect since he can utilize full room,
floor to ceiling, windows in designing the building. In addition, the
improved air conditioning unit permits the air return and air supply
openings to be directed in a plane parallel to the building perimeter or
exterior wall as well as in a plane perpendicular to the building
perimeter wall. This advantageous feature not only minimizes the
unsightliness of the cabinet from an interior design standpoint, but also
permits the improved air conditioning unit to deliver conditioned air to
two side by side rooms when the cabinet is disposed in the interior wall
between the rooms. Lastly, ready access to the working components of the
improved air conditioning unit can be had from the interior of the
building and without the necessity of damaging the surrounding decorative
finish of the rooms by means of an access door in the side wall of the
cabinet.
More specifically, the cabinet of the improved self contained, air
conditioning unit of the present invention includes a vertically
elongated, relatively narrow inside and outside facing end walls,
relatively narrow top and bottom walls, and relatively wide side walls and
is adapted to be disposed, at least in part, within a vertically
elongated, generally rectangular, relatively narrow opening formed in the
exterior building wall between adjacent pieces of glass or windows. The
cabinet is vertically divided into an inside compartment and an outside
compartment by a wall that prevents air communication between the
compartments. The outside compartment is in air communication with the
exterior of the building through an outside fresh air grille which is
mounted in the outside facing end wall and which extends substantially the
entire length and width of the outside facing end wall. The inside
compartment is in air communication with the interior of the building
through an air supply grille and an air return grille mounted in the
cabinet adjacent to the top and bottom walls, respectively, of the
cabinet. The air supply and air return grilles may be mounted in the
inside facing end wall or in one or both of the side walls of the cabinet.
This feature permits the improved unit to be utilized to provide
conditioned air either directly to a single room and in planes parallel or
perpendicular to the building perimeter wall or if the unit is positioned
in an interior building wall, to two adjacent rooms, and thus, affords an
architect or interior designer considerable design freedom in creating the
interior designs of the apartments or offices.
The heating and cooling system components of the improved air conditioning
unit are all disposed within the cabinet. The evaporator component and the
air heaters are disposed in the inside compartment in the path of the air
flow from the air return grille to the air supply grille. An air blower,
also disposed in the inside compartment, provides for a controlled flow of
air along this air flow path from the air return grille to and through the
air supply grille. The compressor and condenser components are disposed in
the outside compartment, with the condenser components being positioned
adjacent to the outside fresh air grille and extending substantially the
entire vertical length of the outside fresh air grille. An air fan unit is
also disposed in the outside compartment so as to cause fresh air from the
exterior of the building to pass across the condenser component.
The side wall of the cabinet includes a door which permits ready access to
all the heating and cooling system components. Thus, these components can
be easily repaired or replaced by a person working in the interior of the
building without the need to cause damage to the decorative finish of the
room.
In view of the foregoing, it is a primary object of the present invention
to provide an improved, self contained air conditioning unit for apartment
buildings, small office buildings, townhouses and other similar buildings
wherein the exterior or perimeter wall of the building is, to a large
extent, glass or windows and wherein it is desired to provide independent
temperature and comfort control for the individual rooms in the building.
A related object of the present invention is to provide an improved self
contained air conditioning unit which comprises a vertically elongated,
relatively narrow, generally rectangular cabinet that is adapted to be
disposed in a vertically elongated, relatively narrow, generally
rectangular opening in the exterior building wall, that has a door
permitting ready access, from the interior of the building, to the heating
and cooling system components disposed in the cabinet and that can provide
conditioned air in a plane parallel to the perimeter wall of the building
and directly to two adjacent rooms.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be
apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following
description of the preferred embodiment of this invention and a review of
the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a portion of the exterior wall of a building,
looking from the exterior of the building, and showing the improved air
conditioner unit of the present invention disposed in an opening in the
exterior building wall between two adjacent windows.
FIG. 2 is a vertical, cross sectional view taken along line 1--1 in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a horizontal, cross sectional view taken along line 3--3 in FIG.
2.
FIG. 4 is a horizontal cross sectional view taken along line 4--4 in FIG.
2.
FIG. 5 is a vertical partial plan view taken along line 5--5 in FIG. 3.
Throughout the various figures of the drawings the same reference numerals
will be used to designate the same or substantially the same parts of the
improved air conditioning unit shown in the drawings. More over, when the
terms "right", "left", "right end", "left end", "inside" and "outside" are
used herein, it is to be understood that these terms have reference to the
structure shown in the drawing as it would appear to a person viewing the
drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
As noted above, the improved air conditioning unit of the present invention
is adapted for use in apartment building, small office buildings,
townhouses or similar buildings wherein the exterior or perimeter wall of
the building is, to a large extent, glass or windows and wherein
independent, comfort or temperature control is desired for the individual
rooms or offices in the building. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a
multi-story building, shown generally at 11, has a perimeter or exterior
wall 12 that to a large extent, consists of glass, floor to ceiling,
windows 13. A plurality of vertically elongated, relatively narrow,
generally rectangular openings 14 are formed in the exterior wall 12, one
between the sides of each pair of adjacent windows 13. Improved
air-conditioning units, shown generally at 15, embodying my invention are
disposed, at least in part, in each of these openings 14. Since each of
these air conditioning units 15 is structurally and functionally
identical, only one such unit will be hereinafter described.
The improved air conditioning unit 15 comprises a vertically elongated,
relatively narrow, generally rectangular cabinet 16 which is mounted on
the floor 17 of the building 11. The cabinet 16 includes a vertically
elongated, relatively narrow, inwardly facing end wall 18; a vertically
elongated, relatively narrow outwardly facing end wall 19; top and bottom
walls 21 and 22, respectively; and relatively wide, in a horizontal
direction, side walls 23 and 24. A reduced height and width neck portion
25 is formed, as an integral part of the cabinet 16, by reducing the width
of the side walls 23 and 24 and the height of the top wall 21 adjacent to
right end of the cabinet 16. The width and height of the neck portion 25
are selected so that the neck portion can snugly fit within the opening 14
formed in the exterior building wall 12. A shim 26 and channel 27 are
disposed between the floor 17 and the bottom wall 22 to assure that the
neck portion 25 fits correctly within the opening 14 when the cabinet is
properly mounted on the floor 17.
A vertical wall 28 extends from the top wall 21, i.e. more particularly,
from the portion of the top wall which overlies the neck portion 25, to
the bottom wall 22 and between the side walls 23 and 24 so as to divide
the interior of the cabinet into an inside compartment 29 and an outside
compartment 31. The wall 28 has an offset portion 30, offset to the left,
approximately midway between the top wall of the neck portion 25 and the
bottom wall 22. The vertical wall 28 prevents air communication between
the compartments 29 and 31.
Referring now to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the side wall 23 and 24 each include an
air return grille or register 32 and an air supply grille or register 33.
These grilles 32 and 33 permit air communication between the interior of
the compartment 29 and the interior of the rooms 34 and 35 in the building
11 when, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the cabinet 16 is disposed in an
interior wall 36 that lies in a plane substantially perpendicular to the
plane of the exterior wall 12. In other words, the air conditioning unit
15 has the important commercial advantage in that it is able to provide
conditioned air to two side-by-side rooms by means of the arrangement of
the grilles disposed in the side walls 23 and 24 of the cabinet 16.
An outside fresh air grille or louver 36 is mounted in the outer facing end
wall 19. As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, this grille 36 extends
substantially the entire vertical length of and is the same horizontal
width as the wall 19 which as noted above, is substantially the same
vertical length and horizontal width as the opening 14. The fresh air
grille 36 permits the ingress of fresh air from the exterior, i.e. the
outside building, into outer compartment 31 and egress of air from
compartment 31 to the exterior or outside of the building, while
preventing, or at least minimizing, the entrance of snow, rain or the like
into the outside compartment 31.
The cooling and heating system components utilized in the air conditioning
unit 15 are of conventional design and construction and function in a
standard manner. Preferably and to facilitate installation of the cabinet
16 and the operation of the unit 15, all of the cooling and heating system
components are electrically powered and require no external water piping
and no external condensate lines. These components include a standard
compressor unit 37 which is interconnected with a standard evaporator unit
38 by means of piping or tubing 39. The evaporator unit 38 is connected,
by means of piping or tubing 41, to the upper end of a standard, finned
condenser unit 42 whose lower end is, in turn, connected to the compressor
37 by means of piping or tubing 43. The compressor unit 37 is mounted in
the outer compartment 31 on the bottom wall 22 of the cabinet 16. The
condenser unit 42 is also mounted in the outer compartment 31 adjacent to
the fresh air grille 36 as to provide maximum heat transfer between the
unit 42 and the fresh air flowing into and out of the outer compartment 31
from the exterior of the building. To facilitate the flow of air through
the grille 36, a conventional electric motor driven fan unit 44 is mounted
in the outer compartment 31 on the offset portion 30 of the wall 28. This
fan unit 44 causes a constant flow of air to pass across the condenser
unit 42.
As best illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 the heating component of the heating
and cooling system includes a pair of standard electric heater units 45
and 46 mounted in the inner compartment 29 on the inwardly facing end wall
18 so that the heater unit 45 is adjacent to and located just upstream
from the grille 33 in the side wall 23 and the heater unit 46 is adjacent
to and located just upstream from the grille 33 in the side wall 24. A
conventional motor driven air blower unit 47 is mounted in the inner
compartment 29 on the offset portion 30 of the vertical wall 28. The
blower unit 47 assures that a controlled flow of air will pass from the
interior of the rooms 34 and 35 into the inner compartment 29 through the
grilles 32. The blower unit 47 also causes air in the inner compartment 29
to flow through the inside compartment 29, along a predetermined path
across the evaporator unit 38 and the heating units 45, out of the
compartment 29 through the grille 33 and back into the rooms 34 and 35.
As an example of cooling system components which could afford a one ton
cooling capacity, the compressor 37 could be a Tecumseh Model No. AK 5510E
manufactured by Tecumseh Products of Tecumseh, Mich., the blower unit 47
could be Dayton Model No. 2C962 manufactured by the Dayton Electric
Manufacturing Company of Northbrook, Ill. and the fan unit 44 could be a
Dayton Model No. 2C354 manufactured by the same company. Similarly the
heater units 45 and 46 could be Brasch Electric, 2 stage, 7.5 KW coil
units manufactured by Brasch Manufacturing Co., Inc. of Maryland Heights,
Mo.
The side wall 24 includes a hinged access door 47 which is normally closed
but which may be manually opened to provide access to the interior of the
cabinet 16. The door 47 carries the air return grilles 32 and air supply
grilles 33 that afford air communication between the inside compartment 29
and the room 35, and is of sufficient size such that when fully opened, as
shown in phantom in FIG. 3, ready access to all of the components of the
heating and cooling system can be had from the interior of room 35. The
advantage of the inclusion of this door in the cabinet 16 is that all
these components can be repaired, in situ, by person in room 35 or can be
removed from the cabinet through the door 47 without dismantling the
cabinet and without disturbing the decorative finish on the walls 12 and
36 of the room 35. A conventional thermostatic control 48 is likewise
mounted on the door 47 and is interconnected by circuitry, not shown, with
the compressor 37, fan unit 44, blower unit 47 and heater units 45 and 46
so as to control the operation of the heating and air cooling system
components and thereby provide temperature or comfort control for the
rooms 34 and 35.
As noted above, one of the principal, commercially attractive advantages of
the improved air conditioner of the present invention is that it provides
a compact, vertically elongated, relatively narrow cabinet which can house
all of the heating and cooling system components required to provide
independent temperature or comfort control for a room or adjacent
perimeter rooms and which only requires minimal space in the perimeter
wall of the building. In this regard, a cabinet 16, sufficient to house
the heating and cooling system components having cooling capacities of
between 9,000 to 23,000 BTU and having a heating capacity of 4KW to 10.5
KW, may have a height of approximately 90 inches, a width, between the
side walls 23 and 24, of approximately 14 inches and a depth, between the
end walls 18 and 19, of approximately 35 inches, with the depth of the
neck portion 25 being approximately 8 inches. Thus by using the improved
air conditioner of the present invention, the architect gains a markedly
increased degree of design freedom and flexibility in the design of the
interior and exterior of a building. The air conditioning unit 15 may also
be constructed so that only minimal on site labor is required to install
the unit in the building 11, and in fact, the only labor required is to
connect the cabinet with a source of electrical power in the building.
While the above is a description of the preferred embodiment of the
invention, modifications and changes obviously could be made in the above
described air conditioning unit 35 without departing from the spirit of my
invention. For example, the neck down portion 25 could be eliminated so
that the cabinet 16 would have more regular, rectangular configuration.
This could be accomplished by reducing the overall height and width of the
unit 15 or enlarging the height and width of the opening 14 or a
compromise between the two. Similarly the compressor unit 37 and fan unit
44 could be mounted in the inner compartment 29 rather than the outer
compartment 31 so long as the fan unit 44 would be connected by duct work
to the interior of the outer compartment 31. The size of the fresh air
grille 36 could be made smaller than the overall size of the outwardly
facing end wall 19 although it is believed that by making the size of the
grille 36 co-extensive with the size of the end wall, improved heat
transfer characteristics will be obtained. Also the vertical wall 28 need
not extend downwardly to the bottom wall 22 out if desired, could have its
lower end bent so as to contact either end walls 18 or 19 adjacent their
lower ends. Similarly the door 47 could be installed in either side walls
23 or 24 and the unit 15 could be utilized, by means of connected duct
work to deliver conditioned air to other, remote rooms.
Finally from the foregoing it should be apparent to those skilled in this
art that various other modifications and changes of the improved air
conditioning unit 35 are possible. Therefore, while a detailed description
of this preferred embodiment of the present invention has been provided
hereinabove, it is to be understood that all equivalents obvious to those
having ordinary skill in this art are to be included in the scope of my
invention as claimed.
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