AU1860299A

AU1860299A - Air flow unit

Info

Publication number: AU1860299A
Application number: AU18602/99A
Authority: AU
Inventors: David Langman Cook
Original assignee: PDL Holdings Ltd
Current assignee: PDL Holdings Ltd
Priority date: 1998-03-10
Filing date: 1999-03-05
Publication date: 1999-09-23
Also published as: GB2335267A; GB9905402D0

Description

Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT, 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for service in Australia: Invention Title: PDL HOLDINGS LIMITED David Langman Cook A J PARK SON, Level 11, 60 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra ACT 2601 AIR FLOW UNIT The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us -2- The present invention relates to an air flow unit. In particular, although not exclusively, the invention relates to a heating unit which can be flush mounted relative to a wall surface and thus be a substantially permanent fixture of the room. However, the invention is not restricted to heating units intended for permanent mounting to a wall surface and may well have application to any type of heater including portable stand-alone heaters movable about a room or house. Moreover, the invention is not limited to heaters and may have application to other air flow units such as ventilators or air-conditioners.

In conventional stand-alone electrical fan heaters, air flow is required from both axial sides of the fan for the fan to operate effectively. This can be simply achieved in standalone heaters by spacing the body of the heater from the floor so that air inlets can be provided on the top and undersurface of the heater. Another type includes an upright space heater which draws in air from both sides of the heater. Since this arrangement requires space for air flow on both sides, the heater incorporates a pair of feet which each project on both sides of the heater to prevent the heater being placed to close to a wall. Such types of heaters are often considered aesthetically undesirable since they protrude into the living space. Furthermore, accidents are common with portable heaters because curtains and other furnishings can be drawn towards the heater and thereby block the airflow to one side of the heater.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome or at least ameliorate some of the above mentioned disadvantages or at least provide the public with a useful choice.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention there is provided an air flow unit having a front surface with a first air intake region located on the front surface, an air blowing device located behind the front surface to draw air through the first air intake region, there being further provided a second air intake region on the front surface, at the entrance of an air flow duct extending to the rear of the air blowing device.

Preferably, the air flow unit is a heater. The air flow unit may also be adapted for wall mounting. In accordance with an alternative embodiment of the invention, the air flow unit may be incorporated into a portable stand-alone heater having supporting feet. Such an arrangement enables the portable heater to be placed with its rear close to a wall surface.

Preferably, the air flow unit is adapted to be received into a wall cavity or within the side walls of a mounting receptacle which is received in the wall cavity. However, in another embodiment of the invention, the mounting receptacle may not be received within the wall cavity and instead may be mounted onto the wall surface. Such an embodiment will have -3application to retro-fitted models.

It is preferred that the first air intake region is disposed directly to the front of the air blowing device. Preferably, there is a third air intake region on the front surface at the entrance of another air flow ducts extending to the rear of the air blowing device. As such, it is preferred that the second and third air intake regions are arranged at either side of the first air intake region. Preferably, the first, second and third air intake regions are immediately adjacent and a plastic plastic grille extends thereover.

The front surface of the air flow device may also provide an air outlet region. It is preferred that the air outlet region is below the air intake regions in the operational orientation of the unit. A metal grille may be provided within the outlet region for long o service life.

Suitably, the air blowing device is a fan. Most preferably, the fan is of the type having a radially operating fan blade.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood some embodiments will now be described by way of example with reference to the drawings in which; Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of a heater assembly according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a heating unit which forms part of the heater assembly shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the heater assembly of Figure 1 shown in partly assembled configuration; Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the heater assembly of Figure 3 shown in partly assembled configuration; Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the heater assembly of Figure 3 shown in substantially assembled configuration; Figure 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the heater assembly shown in Figure 3 in fully assembled configuration; Figure 7 illustrates the electrical supply connector members from the heater assembly of Figure 1, the connector members being shown in both connected and disconnected configuration; Figure 8 is a front view of the heater assembly shown in Figure 1; Figure 9 is a transverse sectional view through 9-9 of the heater assembly shown in Figure 8, with the front cover removed; Figure 10 is a longitudinal sectional view through 10-10 of the heater assembly shown in Figure 8; Figure 11 is a front view of the heater assembly shown in Figure 8 with the control panel cover removed; and Figure 12 is a perspective view of a second preferred embodiment of a heater assembly for surface mounting on a wall.

The heater assembly 10 illustrated in Figure 1 is shown to comprise a support means 12 in the form of a mounting receptacle, a heating unit 14 and a front cover 16. A plastic grille 18 is also inserted between the front of the heating unit 14 and the front cover 16.

A clip 22 is used to attach the plastic grille 18 to the front of the heating unit 14. A filter 17 is located behind the grille at the front of the heating unit 14.

The support means 12 which is in the form of a mounting receptacle comprises a shallow o open box having two sides 26, a top 27, a bottom 28 and a back The heater assembly 10 is adapted for wall mounting. The particular embodiment shown in Figure 1 is a model intended to be substantially flush mounted relative to the wall surface (not shown). In order to achieve this, a hole is cut in the wall so that the mounting receptacle 12 is received in the wall cavity. The mounting receptacle 12 also includes an electrical power supply outlet member 32 which is co-operable with an electrical connector member in the form of plug 34 which extends from the heating unit 14 to supply power to the heating unit. The electrical power supply outlet member 32 and the plug 34 are more clearly shown in Figure 7. Reverting to Figure 1, when the mounting receptacle 12 is installed in the wall cavity, the electrician connects the electrical power .supply outlet 32 to the power supply via a cable 36 which enters the mounting receptacle through an aperture in the bottom 28 of the mounting receptacle 12. A switch may also be provided within the mounting receptacle.

Once the mounting receptacle 12 has been installed in the wall cavity and the appropriate electrical connections made, the interior decorating may proceed without risk of damage to any parts of the heater assembly which would be visible to the client once the heater assembly 10 has been fully assembled.

When the interior room decorations have been completed, the heating unit 14 is inserted into the mounting receptacle 12 as will be more fully explained in connection with Figures 3 to 6. The plug 34 is connected to the electrical power supply outlet member 32 to enable the heating unit 14 to be fully functional. The heating unit 14 is made up of a body portion 42 which is received within the mounting receptacle. Further, the heating unit 14 has a front portion 43 with an peripheral overhanging flange 45 about the circumference of the front portion 43. The rear surface of this peripheral flange 45 abuts the wall surface and thus defines a neat edge between the periphery of the heating unit 14 and the wall surface.

The cover 16 is a substantially planar member which also has a peripheral rim substantially conforming to the contour of the peripheral flange 45 on the heating unit 14.

The front cover 16 includes three apertures 51, 52, 53 as shown. The first aperture 51 enables the user to access a control panel 55 (see Figure 11) on the heater assembly 14.

The second aperture 52 is the air inlet aperture through which air is drawn into the heating unit 14. The third aperture 53 is an air outlet aperture through which hot air exits the heating unit 14.

Figure 2 illustrates the heating unit together with the assembled front cover 16. The air be'" ,intake grille 18 is disposed in the air intake aperture 52. As further shown in Figure 2 an outlet grille is disposed in the air outlet aperture 53. The outlet grille 55 is constructed of •°0000 metal for long service life. The control panel aperture 51 provides access to a control panel flap 60 which is shown in a closed position in Figure 2. Figure 11 illustrates the control panel 54 with the control panel flap 60 removed. Three LED's can be viewed with the control panel flap 60 closed which provide information about the function of the .heating unit 14.

Figure 3 illustrates a method of assembling the heating unit 14 into the mounting receptacle 12. From Figure 3 it can be seen that the mounting receptacle 12 is secured to a wall stud or other supporting member 65 within the wall cavity. The wall board 67 such as plasterboard defines the wall surface 68. The wall board 67 has been constructed so as to define a rectangular aperture in the wall surface 68 and the mounting receptacle 12 is inserted into the wall cavity so that the outer edges of the top 27, bottom 28 and sides 26 of the mounting receptacle 12 abut against the rear of the wall board 67. As is most clearly shown in Figure 3, the top 27 and bottom 28 of the mounting receptacle 12 have an inwardly turned lip 70 to aid in the securement of the heating unit 14 to the mounting receptacle 12.

Both the top and bottom edges of the heating unit 14 include a mounting clip 72 adapted to engage with the lip 70 on the top 27 or bottom 28 of the mounting receptacle as appropriate. Each mounting clip 72 comprises a moulding 75 integrally moulded with the front portion 43 of the heating unit 14. The moulding 75 defines a forward recess 77 and a rearward guide slot or tube 78. The rearward guide slot or tube 78 receives a slide -6member 79 which has an integral hook portion 82. A screw fastener 83 extends through an aperture provided at the base of the forward recess 77 and threadingly engages with the slide 79 which is internally threaded. The head of the threaded fastener 83 engages at the base of the forward recess 77. As can be seen in Figure 3 the guide slot or tube in the upper mounting clip 72 is open at the lower side enabling the slide at outer positions along the threaded fastener 83 to drop down out of alignment with the guide slot 78. As will be appreciated from Figure 3 this enables the hook portion 82 to drop downwardly and abut against a portion of the moulding 75. In contrast, the lower mounting clip 72 as shown in Figure 3 does not provide an open side to the guide tube 78.

Prior to assembly, the slide 79 and hook portion 82 lie in an extended position along the threaded fastener 83. Upon assembly of the heating unit 14 with the mounting receptacle 12, the base of the heating unit 14 is first inserted into the mounting receptacle. As shown in Figure 3, the guide tube or slot 78 is placed over the edge of the wall board 67 with the peripheral flange 45 abutting against the wall surface 68. Now that the base of the heating unit 14 has been placed in position, the heating unit 14 can then be tilted to a more upright position as shown in Figure 4. In this position it will be seen that the hook portion 82 of S the upper mounting clip 72 clears the lip 70 so that the heating unit 14 can be fully inserted into the mounting receptacle 12 to adopt the position shown in Figure 5. At this stage, the tip of a screw driver 90 can be inserted into the forward recess 77 to turn the threaded fastener 83 and so draw in the slide 79 together with the hook portion 82. The slide 79 will ride up against incline 91 and eventually be drawn into alignment with the guide tube or slot 78 while the hook portion 82 traverses the guide tube or slot 78 by means of a slot 92 provided in the outer wall of the guide tube or slot 78. The only difference with the lower mounting clip is that the slide 79 is already in alignment with the guide tube or slot 78 and will simply be drawn in along the threaded fastener.

Eventually, each hook portion 82 adopts the fully assembled configuration shown in Figure 6 whereby the hook portion 82 is disposed behind the lip 70. Figure 6 also illustrates the front cover 16 in assembled configuration with the heating unit 14.

Figure 7 illustrates the electrical power supply outlet member 32 which is secured to the mounting receptacle (See Figure The electrical supply outlet member 32 has two apertures 95 for receipt of respective pins 97 extending from the plug 34. Between the plug 34 and the heating unit 14 is a short cable 99.

Figure 10 is another view of the front of the heater assembly 10 illustrating the air flow into the heating unit 14 through the air intake aperture 52 and out through the metal grille provided in the air outlet aperture 53.

From closer inspection of the air intake aperture 52, the outline of the electrical fan 101 can be viewed. Additionally, it will be seen that the air intake aperture 52 is divided into three by the presence of two longitudinal partitions 105 arranged on opposite sides of the air intake aperture 52 and spaced from the outer side edges thereof. The longitudinal partitions 105 can be viewed in cross section in Figure 9. These partitions 105 extend from the air intake aperture 52 of the heating unit 14 towards the rear of the heating unit 14 but terminate a short distance from the rear of the heating unit 14. Continuous with each of the longitudinal partitions 105 are respective rear partitions 107. The rear partitions 107 each terminate at the edge of the electric fan 101. The longitudinal partitions 105 and the rear partitions 107 together with the exterior wall of the heating unit 14 thereby define air flow ducts extending from the air intake region to the rear of the electric fan 101. Air is also drawn inwardly through the air intake aperture 52 between the two longitudinal partitions 105. The electric fan 101 is thus provided with air flow from both axial sides of the fan 101.

S. As can be appreciated from Figure 10 the air drawn in by the electric fan 101 is then ducted downwardly through the heating unit 14 past the electric heating element(s) 110.

The heated air then passes out through the air outlet aperture 53. Figure 10 illustrates the heater assembly 10 complete with the front cover 16 with the control panel flap 60 and its lower hinge 112.

Figure 11 illustrates the control panel 54 with the control panel flap 60 removed. The control panel 54 provides various control knobs for controlling the heat and fan settings of the heater assembly 10. A timer may also be provided. Also visible from the control panel are the three LED's 62 which indicate various functions of the heater assembly One particular LED is designated to indicate when the heating unit 14 detects that the filter at the air intake aperture 52 has become restricted with dust. The heating unit will C continue to operate but the designated LED will flash indicating to the user that the filter requires cleaning. This can be simply achieved by the user unclipping the front cover 16 of the heater assembly 10, removing the grille 18 which is clipped into the front portion 43 of the heating unit 14 by clip 22. This provides access to the filter 17 which can be washed or substituted for a new one. The designated LED indicator is connector to a sensor within the operational control unit (not shown) of the heating unit 14 to detect a rise in the internal temperature of the heating unit 14, likely to result from reduced air flow to heating unit 14.

The operational control unit also includes a thermostat which detects when the room temperature has reached a pre-selected level to switch off the heating unit 14. The operational control unit also functions to maintain operation of the electric fan for a predetermined time period (20 seconds) after the electric element 110 has been switched off.

This ensures that the temperature of the air within the heating unit 14 more closely approximates ambient temperature of the room, thereby improving the accuracy of the thermostat control within the heating unit 14. This feature of the operational control unit is also considered an inventive and innovative aspect of the present invention.

Each of a number of such heater assemblies 10 may be linked to a central timer which ensures that the heater assemblies 10 are operated efficiently. For example, each of the heating units may operate so as to only deliver heat for a pre-determined time period before the user must reinitiate operation of the heater assembly 10. Alternatively, the central timer may enable operation of the heater assemblies 10 for only certain time periods throughout the day. When the heater units 10 are connected to a central timer or operational control, the user controls on each heating unit 14 may be limited to an on/off switch.

Figure 12 illustrates a second embodiment ofa heater assembly 120. The heater assembly 120 includes a wall mountable support means 122, a heating unit 124 and a front cover 126. Each of these components is similar in many respects to their counterparts shown in the heater assembly 10 of Figure 1. The main difference is that heater assembly 120 is intended to be mounted directly to a wall surface and thus the body portion of the heater assembly 124 will be exposed from the wall surface. The body portion of the heating unit 124 is therefore box-like in configuration and designed with aesthetic considerations in mind. The support means 122 is also of slimmer profile to its counterpart 12 shown in *Figure 1. Additionally, the surface mounted heating unit 124 is affixed to the support means 122 by simple screw fasteners.

The foregoing describes only some embodiments of the present invention and modifications, obvious to those skilled in the art, can be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An air flow unit having a front surface with a first air intake region located on the front surface, an air blowing device located behind the front surface to draw air through the first air intake region, there being further provided a second air intake region on the front surface, at the entrance of an air flow duct extending to the rear of the air blowing device.

2. The air flow unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first air intake region is disposed directly to the front of the air blowing device.

3. The air flow unit as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the first air intake region and the second air intake region are adjacent and are covered by a common grille.

4. The air flow unit as claimed in any one of the preceding claims further including a third air intake region on the front surface at the entrance of another air flow duct extending to the rear of the air blowing device.

5. The air flow unit as claimed in claim 4 wherein the second and third air intake regions are arranged at either side of the first air intake region. oooe•

6. The air flow unit as claimed in claims 4 or claim 5 wherein the three air intake regions are adjacent and a common grille extends thereover.

7. The air flow unit as claimed in any one of the preceding claims further including o t an air outlet region provided in the front surface.

8. The air flow unit as claimed in claim 7 wherein the air outlet region is disposed below the air intake regions in the operational orientation of the unit.

9. The air flow unit as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the air blowing device is a fan.

The air flow unit as claimed in any one of the preceding claims including a heating means to heat the air flow passing through the unit.

11. The air flow unit as claimed in any one of the preceding claims having a body adapted for wall mounting.

12. An air flow assembly including an air flow unit as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10, the air flow unit having a body, the air flow assembly further including a mounting receptacle for wall mounting, the mounting receptacle adapted to receive the body of the air flow unit.

13. An air flow unit substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying figures.

14. An air flow assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying figures. By the authorise& _gents A J PARK SON