AU3688299A

AU3688299A - Air duct connector construction

Info

Publication number: AU3688299A
Application number: AU36882/99A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Walter Kimble
Original assignee: Advantage Air Australia Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Advantage Air Australia Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1998-03-30
Filing date: 1999-06-30
Publication date: 2001-01-04
Anticipated expiration: 2019-03-29
Also published as: AU767079B2

Description

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AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Application Number: Lodged: Invention Title: AIR DUCT CONNECTOR CONSTRUCION The following statement Is a full description of this Invention, Including the best method of performing It known to us AIR DUCT CONNECTOR CONSTRUCTION The present invention is generally directed to air conditioning ducting, and in particular to an air duct connector for such ducting.

The Applicant has developed an air duct connector design as described in Australian Patent application No. 22485/99, details of which are incorporated herein by reference. The air duct connector described in the application includes a plenum box having an inlet opening and at least two outlet openings.

Various flow control means such as adjustable blade assemblies are located within the plenum box. The plenum box is separated into two half sections along a plane extending though the middle of the plenum box and through the inlet and outlet openings thereof.

The purpose for providing two separate halves is to facilitate storage of the plenum box sections, and to facilitate assembly of the connector. It has however been found that it is difficult to align the two half sections together when 15 being assembled together. Furthermore, the joint between the two halves e provides a line of weakness where the plenum box can readily bend. Also, it has been found that the plenum box sections do not readily nest together limiting the benefits that may arise from the reduced need for storage space which would have been the case were the sections truly nestable.

20 It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an air duct connector having a construction which avoids at least one of the disadvantages of the existing air duct connector.

With this in mind, there is provided an air duct connector for air conditioning ducts including a plenum box having inlet and outlet openings, the plenum box including wall panels, and a plurality of connection members interconnecting and maintaining the wall panels in an at least substantially parallel configuration, the wall panels and the connection members defining the periphery of each said inlet and outlet openings, wherein the wall panels are separable from the connection members.

The wall panels may provide a base and roof of the plenum box, and the connection members may provide side sections of the plenum box. The wall panels and connection members when assembled define the inlet and outlet openings of the plenum box. In particular, the wall panels may provide the upper and lower peripheries of the openings, and the connection members may provide the side peripheries of said openings. The wall panels and connection members may respectively have overlapping portions thereof to provide a greater degree of rigidity for the assembled plenum box.

The wall panels and connection members may include cooperating retaining means for retaining together the wall panels and connection members when assembled to form the plenum box. The retaining means may be integral with the wall panels and/or connection members. In particular, the retaining means may be located on the overlapping portions of the wall panels and the connection members. According to one preferred embodiment, the retaining means may include at least one aperture provided at each overlapping portion of the connection member, and a cooperating lug may be provided on the overlapping portion of the wall panel to engage the aperture. Abutment means may be provided on the wall panel to align and urge the overlapping portion of the connection member against the overlapping portion of the wall panel such that the aperture(s) on the connection member engage the cooperating lug(s) on the wall panel. Alternatively or in addition, the connection arrangement can include at least one aperture provided in the overlapping portion of the wall S 20 panel for cooperating with a lug provided on the overlapping portion of the connection member. Other forms of retaining means integral with the wall panels and/or connection members are also envisaged. Furthermore, it is alternatively envisaged that retaining means separate from the panels may be used to secure the wall panels and connection members together.

The wall panels may include an inner face upon which may be located support means for supporting components located within the plenum box. The components may for example include air flow control means for controlling the flow of air through at least one of the outlet openings of the plenum box. It is also envisaged that flow control means may be provided to control the flow though the inlet opening of the plenum box. The flow control means may for example be in the form of a rotating vane assembly.

Each air flow control means may include a plurality of rotatably supported vanes, the vanes being rotatable between a closed position for preventing air flow through the associated outlet opening and an open position where air flow though the associated outlet opening is allowed. The rotational axis of each vane may be at least substantially parallel with the rotational axis of an adjacent said vane.

Each vane may be secured to a gear wheel supported for rotational movement. A said gear wheel may be secured to at least one end of the vane, and preferably at both ends thereof. Each gear wheel may mesh with at least one other gear wheel secured to an adjacent said vane such that there is synchronous movement of said adjacent vane. Each air flow control means can be formed by a row of said vanes, the vanes being secured to a gear train *o **formed by a series of said gear wheels such that the vanes can move together in unison.

drive arrangement may drive each air flow control means to enable 15 them to operate in unison. The drive arrangement may include a drive gear wheel located between adjacent air flow control means, the drive gear wheel meshing with the gear train of each air flow means. The gear trains and .o associated vanes may be arranged such that as one set of vanes move from a fully closed position to a fully open position, the adjacent set of vanes may move 20 from a fully open position to a fully closed position. The air flow passing through the air inlet opening to the outlet openings can therefore be progressively controlled between the outlet openings.

As the base and roof panels are separable from the connection members, this facilitates the storage of the panels as they can be readily stacked.

Furthermore, the assembled plenum box can be more rigid than the plenum box arrangement described in the Applicants' previously described patent application.

It will be convenient to further describe the present invention with respect to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention. Other embodiments of the invention are possible and consequently, the particularity of the accompanying drawings is not to be understood as superseding the generality of the preceding description of the invention.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of an assembled air duct connector according to the present invention; Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the plenum box of the air duct connector according to Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a perspective view of the air duct connector according to Figure 1 with the upper wall panel removed.

Referring initially to Figure 1, there is shown an assembled air duct connector 1 according to the present invention. The air duct connector 1 includes a plenum box 2 having an inlet opening (not shown) and two outlet openings 9.

:The plenum box 2 includes an upper wall panel 3 and a lower wall panel respectively providing the top and base of the plenum box 2. Connection members 7 interconnect the upper wall panel 3 and lower wall panel 5 to complete the plenum box 2.

Located within the plenum box 2 are flow control means 11 for controlling the flow of air through the outlet openings 9. The flow control means 11 can be in the form of a series of rotatable vanes 12 providing a rotating vane assembly.

Each vane 12 is supported on a rotatable gear 13, each gear 13 meshing with at 0:0 20 least one other adjacent gear 13 to allow the vanes 12 to be rotated in unison.

0000 0. The rotational axis of each vane 12 is at least substantially parallel with the adjacent vane(s) 12. The vanes 12 can be rotated to a fully closed position to block off substantially all of the air flow through the adjacent outlet opening 9 as shown in the right hand vane assembly 11 of Figure 3. Alternatively the rotatable vanes 12 can be located to allow relatively unimpeded flow through the outlet opening 9 as shown in the left hand vane assembly 11 of Figure 3.

Figure 2 shows in more detail the various components of the plenum box 2. The lower wall panel 5 has an inner face 19 upon which are located various projections for supporting various components within the plenum box 2 such as the rotatable vanes 11. Similar projections are provided on an inner face 21 of the upper wall panel 3. The projections include tubular bosses 35 to which the vane gear wheels 13 can be rotatably supported. The projections also support an insulation panel 17 as shown in Figure 3 located on top of the inner face 19 of the lower wall panel 5. A similar insulation panel can be provided next to the inner face of the upper wall panel 3.

Each connection member 7 has end portions 23 which overlap cooperating wall panel portions 25 located on each wall panel 3, 5 when the plenum box 2 is assembled. Each connection member end portion 23 includes retaining means in the form of two apertures 27 provided therethrough. These apertures 27 cooperate with lugs 29 provided within the respective overlapping portion 25 of the upper and lower wall panel 3, 5. Further abutment means in the form of projections 31, 33 extending from the wall panel inner face 19 adjacent the wall panel overlapping portion 25 are provided to align the .i connection panel end portion 23 with the overlapping portion 25 of the wall panels 3, 5 such that the apertures 23 can engage the lugs 29 of the wall panel 3, 5. This arrangement allows for speedy assembly of the plenum box 2. In addition, this arrangement provides for a relatively rigid construction of the plenum box 2.

Figure 3 shows in more detail the configuration of the vane assemblies 11 at each outlet opening 9. The vanes 12 of each vane assembly 11 are aligned in a common plane adjacent the plane of the respective outlet opening 9. Gear 20 wheels 13 are provided at both ends of each vane 12, with adjacent gear wheels 13 meshing to provide a gear train. The vanes 12 of each vane assembly 11 therefore move in unison, with each vane 12 moving in counter rotation relative to the rotation of the adjacent vane 12. Furthermore, both vane assemblies move in unison such that when one outlet opening 9 is open, the other outlet opening 9 is closed. To this end, a common drive arrangement 15 is provided for both vane assemblies 11. This drive arrangement includes an intermediate drive gear 15 located between adjacent vane assemblies 11 and meshing with a said gear wheel 13 from each vane assembly 11. Rotation of the drive gear will therefore result in movement in unison of both vane assemblies 11.

6 The above description is provided for the purposes of the exemplification only and it will be understood by the person skilled in the art that modifications and variations may be made without departing from the invention.

9 .9* e 9 9 e Soo 9

Claims

1. An air duct connector for air conditioning ducts, including a plenum box having inlet and outlet openings, the plenum box including wall panels, and a plurality of connection members interconnecting and maintaining the wall panels in an at least substantially parallel configuration, the wall panels and connection members together defining the periphery of the inlet and openings, wherein the wall panels are separable from the connection members.

2. An air duct connector according to claim 1, wherein the wall panels and connection members include cooperating retaining means for retaining together S: the wall panels and the connection members when assembled to form the plenum box.

3. An air duct connector according to claim 2, wherein the retaining means are located on overlapping portions of the wall panels and the connection members.

4. An air duct according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the retaining means are integral with the wall panels and/or the connection members.

An air duct connector according to claim 4, wherein the retaining means **includes at least one aperture provided on one said overlapping portion thereof, with a cooperating lug being provided on an opposing said overlapping portion.

6. An air duct connector according to any one of the preceding claims including an air flow control means provided adjacent each outlet opening within the air duct connector, wherein the air flow control means operate in unison to control the air flow through each outlet opening thereof. I rr 8

7. An air duct connector according to claim 6, wherein when one said air flow control means is in a fully closed position for preventing air flow therethrough, an adjacent said air flow control means is in a fully open position for allowing air flow therethough.

8. An air duct connector according to claim 7, wherein each air flow control means includes a plurality of rotatably supported vanes, the vanes being rotatable between a closed position for preventing air flow through the associated outlet opening and an open position where air flow though the associated outlet opening is allowed.

An air duct connector according to claim 8, wherein a gear wheel is provided on at least one end of each said vane, the gear wheel meshing with the gear wheel of an adjacent said vane such that said vanes of said air flow control means move in unison.

10. An air duct connector according to any one of claims 6 to 9, further including a drive arrangement for driving each air flow control means to enable them to operate in unison. 6*:

11. An air duct connector according to claim 10 when appended to claim 9, wherein the drive arrangement is an intermediate drive gear meshing with the gear wheel of a said vane of each said air flow control means.

12. An air duct connector substantially as hereinbefore described with respect to what is shown in the accompanying drawings. DATED this 30th day of June 1999 ADVANTAGE AIR (AUST) PTY LTD WATERMARK PATENT TRADEMARK ATTORNEYS 290 BURWOOD ROAD HAWTHORN VICTORIA 3122 AUSTRALIA