Air circulatory system for an enclosure

• US 5,308,279 A
• Filed: 10/28/1991
• Issued: 05/03/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/1991
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Caterpillar Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Caterpillar Incorporated
• Inventors: Grinberg, Eugene
• Primary Examiner(s): Joyce, Harold
• Application Number:
  US07/773,629
• Time in Patent Office: 918 Days
• Field of Search: 454/85, 454/93, 454/99, 454/121, 454/127, 454/139, 454/144, 454/151, 454/152, 454/156, 454/158
• US Class Current: 454/139
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00378 for tractor or load vehicle cabins

Abstract

The air circulatory system (32) utilizes a first and second air passageways (46) for communicating ambient air into the cab and an inlet (73) to introduce air that is circulating within the cab into the system through passageways (48,50,70,34) that create very little restriction for the air flowing therethrough. A pair of ducts (76) is utilized to discharge to air back into the cab (10) that also creates very little restriction for the air flow. This results in a very small drop in air pressure between the air being introduced into the blower assembly (40) and the air exiting the blower assembly (40). Subsequently, the requirements of the blower assembly (40) and the noise created by its operation kept at a minimum.

Claims

1. An air circulatory system (32) adapted for use with a cab (10) of a vehicle, comprising:

a housing (30) having first and second compartments (34,36) and an inlet (70) defined by the housing (30) for communication with air circulating within the cab (10) into the first compartment (34) said housing providing support for a seat assembly;

a pair of fresh air passageways (48,50) each having a first end portion (59) that defines an opening (56) in a respective one of an opposing side (14,16) of the cab (10) and a second end portion (62) that is engaged with a respective one of opposing sides (52,54) of the first compartment (34), said fresh air passages (48,50) being sufficient for communicating ambient air outside the cab (10) with the first compartment (34);

an air duct means (78,80) having a first end portion (82) positioned for communication with the second compartment (36) of the housing (30) and a second end portion (90) that extends forwardly from the housing (30) to a position that is adjacent a front wall (18) of the cab (10) and defines a plurality of air discharge ports (102,104,110,114) that are spaced laterally from one another a distance that is substantially equal to the width of the seat assembly; and

a blower assembly (40) positioned in the second compartment (36) and being sufficient for drawing ambient air and air circulating within the cab (10) through the first compartment (34) and into the second compartment (36) and directing it back into the cab (10) through the discharge ports (102,104,110,114) at a preselected pressure that is within a range of 0.398 to 0.439 KpA greater upon discharge from the second compartment (36) than the air that is drawn into the second compartment (36).

2. An air circulatory system (32) as set forth in claim 1 the pair of fresh air passageways each (48,50) further include:

a first, generally vertically extending plenum (58) mounted to the respective sides (14,16) of the cab (10) about the openings (56) formed therein;

a second, generally horizontally extending plenum (61) having a first and second opening (64,68) formed therein and being positioned subjacent the first plenum (58) along an outer portion (66) of the second plenum (61) and extending inwardly to the housing (30), said first opening (64) being sufficient for communication with the first plenum (58) and said second opening (68) being positioned for communication with the first compartment (34) of the housing (30).

3. An air circulatory system (32) as set forth in claim 2 wherein the second plenum member (61) forms a substantially square chamber having the first and second openings (64,68) positioned on substantially opposite ends thereof and being laterally offset from one another so that the ambient air drawn therethrough by the blower assembly (40) traverses in a generally diagonal path from the first opening (64) communicating with the first plenum (58) to the second opening (68) communicating with the first housing compartment (34).

4. The air circulatory system (32) as set forth in claim 1 wherein a wall (42) is positioned between the first and second housing compartments (32,34) and defines an opening (44) therein to permit a flow of air to pass therethrough and a air conditioning unit (38) is positioned in the first compartment (34) of the housing (30) adjacent the opening (44) to environmentally treat the air as it flows from the first to the second compartment (32,34) of the housing (30).

5. The air circulatory system (32) as set forth in claim 1 wherein a seat assembly (26) is mounted on the housing (30).

6. The air circulatory system (32) as set forth in claim 1 wherein the inlet (70) defined by the housing (30) is centrally positioned behind the seat (26).

7. The air circulatory system (32) as set forth in claim 1 wherein a filter assembly (74) is positioned in overlying relation to the inlet (70) defined in the housing (30), said filter assembly (74) having a filter media of high density glass micro-fibers and a filtering area of approximately 1481 square centimeters.

8. The air circulatory system (32) as set forth in claim 1 wherein a filter assembly (60) is positioned in overlying relation to each of the openings (56) in the sidewalls (14,16) of the cab (10) formed by the fresh air passageways (48,50), said filter assemblies (60) having a filter media of high density glass micro fibers and a filtering area of approximately 431 square centimeters.

9. The air circulatory system (32) as set forth in claim 1 wherein the air duct means (78,80) includes a pair of ducts (78,80) that extend forwardly from the first end portion (82) with a progressively increasing flow area to an enlarged second end portion (90).

10. The air circulatory system (32) as set forth in claim 9 wherein the air duct means (78,80) forms a laterally extending taper between the first and second end portions (82,90) thereof to provide a generally uniform, increase in the flow area.

11. The air circulatory system (32) as set forth in claim 9 wherein the air duct means (78,80) further includes a second pair of ducts (92,94) having a first end portion (96) engaged with the second end portions (90) of the first pair of ducts (78,80) and a second end portion (98) that defines the plurality of discharge ports (102,104,110,114).

12. The air circulatory system (32) as set forth in claim 1 wherein the discharge ports (102,104,110,114) are positioned at an elevation that is substantially equal to that of the seat (26) and are arranged to discharge air in a generally circular path from the discharge ports (102,104,110,114) to the centrally positioned inlet (70) behind the seat (26).

13. In a cab (10) of a vehicle having a base portion (28), and a seat (26) supported by the base portion (28) to provide a location for an operator from which the vehicle may be controlled, an air circulatory system (32), comprising:

a housing (30) having an air intake portion (34) and an air discharge portion (36) and being mounted to the base portion (28) in a manner to form a mounting platform for the seat (26);

an inlet (70) defined by the housing (30) and being sufficient for communicating air circulating within the cab (10) into the air intake portion (34) of the housing (30) and being positioned rearwardly of the seat (26);

a pair of fresh air passageways (48,50) having a first end portion (59) defining an opening (56) in each of a respective pair of opposing sidewalls (14,16) of the cab (10) and a second end portion (62) engaged with each of a respective opposing side (52,54) of the air intake portion (32) of the housing (30) to communicate ambient air from outside the cab (10) to mix with the air circulating within the cab (10), said fresh air passageways being positioned substantially in horizontal alignment with the housing (30);

a filter assembly (74) mounted to the housing (30) in overlying relation to the inlet (70);

means (76) for discharging air from the discharge portion (36) of the housing (30), said means (76) being positioned to communicate a flow of air from a pair of laterally spaced openings (86,88) defined in the discharge portion (36) of the housing (30) to a plurality of discharge ports (102,104,110,114) that are positioned forwardly of the seat (26) at a location that is adjacent a front wall of the cab and are spaced laterally from one another a distance at least substantially equal to the width of the seat (26); and

a blower assembly (40) having a single motor (118) and a pair of fan members (122) positioned on opposite sides of the motor (118), said blower assembly (40) being mounted in the discharge portion (36) of the housing (30) with the fan members (122) aligned with the respective openings (86,88) defined in the discharge portion (36) of the housing (30), said blower assembly (40) being sufficient for drawing air through the filter assembly (74) and inlet (70) and into the discharge portion (36) of the housing (30) and directing air under pressure through the discharge means (76) to the discharge ports (102,104,110,112) in a manner wherein the air is circulated between the discharge ports (102,104,110,114) and the filter (74) in a generally circular pattern around the operator as he is positioned in the seat (26).

14. The air circulatory system (32) as set forth in claim 13 wherein the air discharging means (76) further includes:

a first pair of ducts (78,80) having a first end portion (82) connected to the discharge portion (36) of the housing (30) in surrounding relation to one of the respective openings (56) defined therein and a second end portion (90), said first pair of ducts (78,80) extending from the housing (30) in a generally horizontal direction; and

a second pair of ducts (92,94) having a first end portion (96) connected to the respective second end portions (90) of the first pair of ducts (78,80) and a second end portion (98) that mounts the plurality of discharge ports (102,104,110,114), said second pair of ducts (92,94) extending upwardly from the first pair of ducts (78,80) in a manner to create a minimum restriction of the air flowing therethrough.

15. The air circulatory system (32) as set forth in claim 14 wherein the first pair of ducts (78,80) define a forwardly extending, progressively increasing taper to form a substantially unrestricted transition of flow area between the first and second pairs of ducts (78,80,92,94).

16. The air circulatory system (32) as set forth in claim 13 wherein the plurality of discharge ports (78,80,92,94) further include:

at least one discharge port (102) that directs air flow in an outer direction toward a window (22) positioned in each side (14,16) of the cab (10);

at least one discharge port (104) that directs air flow toward an inner portion of the cab (10);

at least one discharge port (110) that directs air flow in an upward direction toward a forwardly facing windshield (22) defined by the cab (10); and

at least one discharge port (114) that directs air flow in a rearward and upward direction toward the operator positioned in the seat (26) and a rearwardly facing window (22) defined by the cab (10).

17. The air circulatory system (32) as set forth in claim 16 wherein the respective discharge ports (102,104,110,114) are sufficient for individually adjusting the direction of air that flows therefrom.

18. The air circulatory system (32) a set forth in claim 13 wherein the blower assembly (40) directs the air through the air discharge means (76) at a preselected pressure that is within a range of 0.398 to 0.439 KpA greater than the pressure of the air that is drawn into the discharge portion (36) of the housing (30).