Room air-conditioner

• US 20020157415A1
• Filed: 04/05/2002
• Published: 10/31/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: O.Y.L. Research & Development Centre Sdn. Bhd. (Daikin Industries Ltd)
• Original Assignee: O.Y.L. Research & Development Centre Sdn. Bhd. (Daikin Industries Ltd)
• Inventors: Liu, Wan Min
• Granted Patent: US 6,701,741 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 62/298
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 1/027 mounted in wall openings, e.g. in windows
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 13/20 Casings or covers
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 13/224 in a window-type room air conditioner
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2013/225 by evaporating the condensate in the cooling medium, e.g. in air flow from the condenser

Abstract

A room air-conditioner (10) for installation into a pre-constructed aperture through a building wall (34) has a depth substantially equivalent to the wall thickness and is adapted to stand at floor level within said aperture with front and rear covers (11,12) flush with internal and external surfaces of the wall, respectively. The necessary compact design is achieved by stacking the components vertically within the air-conditioner whereby the condenser coil (16) is at the bottom and air for the condenser is drawn in and extracted from the rear whereas the evaporator coil (22) is towards the top and air for the evaporator is drawn in and extracted from the front. Fans (19,24) for each coil are arranged coaxially and driven by a single motor (21). The coils have a C-shaped configuration. Condensate is collected from the evaporator coil in containers (29,31) and is used to cool refrigerant pipes (30,32) entering and leaving the condenser coil. The condensate may also be sprayed in a fine mist over said condenser coil.

Claims

1. It should also be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the embodiment described above without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. For example, the dimensions given in relation to the preferred embodiment are preferments only and could easily be varied to suit different wall thicknesses and different capacity air-conditioners. For example, the width and height of the air-conditioner may be varied whilst maintaining the depth at 250 mm but for some buildings the depth of the air-conditioner may also be varied to correspond to the wall thickness. Fastening means (not shown) which may take many different forms are provided on the air-conditioner for the purpose of attaching it to installation brackets (not shown) arranged within the wall slot. Because the air-conditioner is located at floor level, there is no lifting required in order to slip the air-conditioner into the slot and plug it in. Whilst none of the electrical connections are shown, clearly the air-conditioner incorporates appropriate switches and a thermostat to control its operation.

2. A room air-conditioner as defined in claim 1, characterized in that, cooling air for the air-conditioner condenser coil is drawn in and extracted solely through said rear face of said air-conditioner.

3. A room air-conditioner as defined in claim 2, characterized in that, said air-conditioner includes fastening means for attaching said air-conditioner to installation brackets provided within said aperture.

4. A room air-conditioner as defined in claim 3, characterized in that, said condenser coil is mounted on or near a base pan of the air-conditioner adjacent said rear face thereof and an evaporator coil of the air-conditioner is mounted above the level of the condenser coil and adjacent said front face thereof, a first fan is provided above the level of said condenser coil for providing said cooling air for said condenser coil and a second similar fan is provided for drawing room air through said front face, over said evaporator coil whereby it is cooled, and discharging said cooled air into said room, and a single electric motor is provided for driving said fans.

5. A room air-conditioner as defined in claim 4, characterized in that, said fans are mounted with their rotational axes coaxial and said motor is arranged between said fans with the motor rotational axis co-axial with the rotational axes of said fans.

6. A room air-conditioner as defined in claim 5, characterized in that, condensate is collected from said evaporator coil and used to cool refrigerant pipes into and out of said condenser coil.

7. A room air-conditioner as defined in claim 6, characterized in that, said condensate is also sprayed onto said condenser coil for cooling purposes.

8. A room air-conditioner as defined in claim 7, characterized in that, said condensate flows under gravity into two separate containers arranged adjacent said condenser coil, and said refrigerant pipes into and out of said condenser coil pass through respective said containers for cooling purposes.

9. A room air conditioner as defined in claim 4, characterized in that, said condenser and evaporator coils are of C-shaped cross-section.

10. A room air-conditioner, characterized in that, a single electric motor is used to drive both an evaporator fan for drawing room air through an evaporator coil and discharging said air back into said room, and a condenser fan for drawing external air through a condenser coil for cooling purposes and discharging said air externally of said room.

11. A room air-conditioner as defined in claim 10, characterized in that, said shafts extend vertically and said fans draw air into the fan axially and discharge the air radially.

12. A room air-conditioner as defined in claim 11, characterized in that, said fans are mounted in coaxial alignment and said electric motor is mounted between said fans with its axis coaxial therewith, the shaft of said motor being connected at respective ends directly with drive shafts of the fans.

13. A room air-conditioner as defined in claim 12, characterized in that, said evaporator and condenser coils are of C-shaped cross-section.

15. A room air-conditioner as defined in claim 14, characterized in that, said condensate is also sprayed onto said condenser coil for cooling purposes.

16. A room air-conditioner as defined in claim 15, characterized in that, a drain pan under said evaporator coil collects said condensate and pipe means delivers said condensate by gravity to container means adjacent said condenser coil, and inlet and outlet pipes of said condenser coil pass through said container means and are thereby cooled by said condensate thus providing further cooling to said refrigerant.

17. A room air-conditioner as defined in claim 16, characterized in that, said pipe means comprises one or more pipes extending from said drain pan to said container means, and said container means comprises separate containers for said inlet and outlet pipes of said condenser coil.

18. A room air-conditioner as defined in claim 17, characterized in that, said air-conditioner is adapted for installation into a pre-constructed aperture through said external wall, which aperture extends upwardly from the building floor level and contains installation brackets to which said air-conditioner is attached, said air-conditioner having a depth substantially equivalent to the thickness of said external wall and being adapted to stand at floor level within said aperture with front and rear faces substantially flush with internal and external surfaces of said wall, respectively.

19. A room air-conditioner as defined in claim 18, characterized in that, said condenser coil is mounted on a base pan of the air-conditioner adjacent the rear face thereof and said evaporator coil is mounted above the level of the condenser coil and adjacent said front face, said air-conditioner further including a first fan arranged above the level of said condenser coil for providing cooling air for said condenser coil and second similar fan for drawing room air through said front face, over said evaporator coil whereby it is cooled, and discharging said cooled air into said room, and a single electric motor for driving said fans.

20. A room air-conditioner as defined in claim 14, characterized in that, said condenser and evaporator coils are of C-shaped cross-section.

14. A room air-conditioner for location in an external wall of the room, characterized in that, condensate collected from an evaporator coil is utilized to cool refrigerant pipes entering and leaving a condenser coil of the air-conditioner.