US20110308266A1

US20110308266A1 - Air conditioner system and method with adaptive airflow

Info

Publication number: US20110308266A1
Application number: US12/818,552
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert Lafleur
Original assignee: General Electric Co
Current assignee: General Electric Co
Priority date: 2010-06-18
Filing date: 2010-06-18
Publication date: 2011-12-22

Abstract

An conditioner system includes a housing having an upper opening and a lower opening, and a sealed refrigeration system supported by the housing for providing cold air in a cooling mode. Additionally, a heater is disposed in the housing for providing warm air in a warming mode. An adaptive airflow control unit is disposed in the housing and is configured to discharge the cold air from the upper opening in order to transmit the cold air upward and high in an environment of the air conditioner system in the cooling mode and to discharge the warm air from the lower opening in order to transmit the warm air downward and low in the environment in the warming mode.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to air conditioners that heat and cool spaces. More particularly, the disclosed subject matter relates to air conditioners that utilize the natural convective properties of warm and cool air.
Air conditioning appliances are generally employed in both warm and cold climates to control the temperature of the air within an environment (e.g., a building, a house, etc). As is known in the art, air temperature and humidity can be stabilized utilizing a sealed refrigeration system that includes a compressor, a condenser, a expansion device and an evaporator for comfort cooling in buildings and motor vehicles. Room air conditioners, for example, generally include an air inlet and an air outlet located at a front side of the air conditioner, which faces the interior of a room. Such an air conditioner is positioned in a window opening or in a sleeved gap formed through the wall of the room. Also, as known in the art, the air can be pulled through one set of louvers, and discharged though another set of louvers.
In prior art air conditioner appliances, the air outlet can be a single opening positioned either along a top edge or a bottom edge of the front panel or may be a single opening positioned at one side or the other of the front panel. Disadvantages of this approach include the airflow direction, which is the same regardless of whether the unit is in a warming mode or cooling mode. In this regard, the heated or cooled air must be delivered against the natural convection forces due to the change in the weight of the air as it is heated or cooled. Moreover, the airflow throughout such a system may not be evenly distributed as the individual units shed their respective loads. Currently, there exists a need for a room air conditioner that is capable of maintaining temperatures more evenly across a room.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As described herein, the preferred embodiments of the present invention overcome one or more of the above or other disadvantages known in the art.
One aspect of the present invention relates to an conditioner system that includes a housing having an upper opening and a lower opening, and a sealed refrigeration system supported by the housing for providing cold air in a cooling mode. Additionally, a heater is disposed in the housing for providing warm air in a warming mode. An adaptive airflow control unit is disposed in the housing and is configured to discharge the cold air from the upper opening in order to transmit the cold air upward and high in an environment of the air conditioner system in the cooling mode and to discharge the warm air from the lower opening in order to transmit the warm air downward and low in the environment in the warming mode.
These and other aspects and advantages of the preferred embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. Moreover, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying figures, in which like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally-similar elements throughout the separate views and which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, further illustrate the present invention and, together with the detailed description of the invention, serve to explain the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic view of a room air conditioner system, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic view of the air conditioner system operating in a cooling mode, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic view of the air conditioner system operating in a heating mode, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIGS. 4A and 4B respectively illustrate schematic views of an air conditioner system 400 discharging cold air and warm air, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIGS. 5A and 5B respectively illustrate schematic views of an air conditioner system 500 including a reversible fan 510 for reversing direction of airflow, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate respective schematic views of an air conditioner system 600, which includes an air channel diverter unit, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments; and

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate respective schematic views of an air conditioner system 700 that includes separate fans for heating/cooling operation, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The particular values and configurations discussed in these non-limiting examples can be varied and are cited merely to illustrate at least one of the disclosed embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope thereof.
FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic view of an air conditioner system 100 for maintaining relatively even temperatures across an environment, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. An “environment” in this context may be, for example, a room, a group of rooms or even particular zones within a home or building. The air conditioner system 100 generally includes a sealed refrigeration system 175, a heater 410, and an adaptive airflow control unit 180 that function together to provide a cooling mode 185 and a warming mode 190. The air conditioner system 100 can be placed, for example, in an open window or sleeve or gap of a wall 150 and faces the interior of the environment to be conditioned. Note that the adaptive airflow control unit is a component different from the sealed refrigeration system 175, although both preferably form a part of the overall air conditioner system 100.
The air conditioner system 100 depicted in FIG. 1 utilizes natural convection for performing cooling/heating operations. The principle of natural convection of air currents is of course well known. According to this principle, warm air tends to rise so that in an enclosed space (e.g., a room), the temperature of air near the ceiling is greater than the temperature of the air near the floor of the room. Natural convection of air can be utilized to maintain relatively even temperatures in an enclosed space, such as a room, a group of rooms or particular zones within an enclosed space, such as a building or home.
By way of a non-limiting example, the air conditioner system 100 is indicated in FIG. 1 as a room air conditioner system. It can be appreciated, however, that embodiments of the invention can also be employed in the context of other types of appliances, such as conventional heating systems and air conditioning systems, and multi-stage cooling units including a plurality of staged compressors and multi-staged or variable heating units utilizing steam, warm water, heat pumps, electrical resistance heaters, and so forth.
The air conditioner system 100 generally includes a housing 101 that includes a top portion 110 and a bottom portion 120. The housing 101 further includes an upper opening 161 and a lower opening 131. A set of top end louvers 160 can be disposed and maintained within the upper opening 161. Similarly, a set of bottom end louvers 130 can be disposed and maintained within the lower opening 131. The sealed refrigeration system 175 is supported by the housing 101 and provides cold air in a cooling mode 185. The sealed refrigeration system 175 includes an evaporator in the form of an indoor coil 140 shown in FIG. 1. The operation principle of the sealed refrigeration system 175 is well known in the art, and therefore will not be discussed here. The heater 410 can be disposed in and protected by the housing 101 to provide warm air in a warming mode 190. A control unit 180 controls the operation of the air conditioner system 100.
A bulkhead portion 170 of the housing generally extends completely across the width of the air conditioner system 100. In FIG. 1, unconditioned air flows into the housing 101 through the indoor coil 140. The indoor coil 140 functions as an evaporator or evaporative coil with respect to the sealed refrigeration system 175. The unconditioned air that is received by the indoor coil 140 can be conditioned and discharged through the top portion 110 via the upper opening 161. The upper opening 161 and the lower opening 131 together provide different air-flow configurations as described in greater detail herein.
As best seen in FIG. 2, the air conditioner system 100 discharges the cold air through the set of top end louvers 160 at the upper opening 161 located near the top portion 110. During the cooling mode operation 185, a large part of the air can be guided along the ceiling of the room in order to avoid drafts and by the gradual descent of the cold, heavy air in the downward direction to achieve a relatively uniform temperature distribution in the room. The air at the floor is pulled back into the system 100 from the set of bottom end louvers 130 located within the gap or lower opening 131 of the bottom portion 120 of the housing 101. Alternatively, as best seen in FIG. 3, the air conditioner system 100 discharges the warm air through the set of bottom end louvers 130 located within the lower opening 131 at the bottom portion 120. During the warming mode operation 190, a large part of the air can be guided along the floor and then ascends in an upward direction towards the ceiling of the environment. The air at the ceiling is pulled back into the system 100 from the top end louvers 160 to achieve a relatively uniform temperature distribution in the room. As touched on previously, herein the “environment” in this context may be, for example, a single room or a number of interconnected rooms or any other enclosure or enclosures in need of air conditioning. In a preferred embodiment, the environment conditioned by the air conditioner system 100 is preferably subject to a number of cooling or heating stages via the system 100.
The configuration depicted in FIGS. 4A, 4B includes an adaptive airflow control unit 401 for reversing the direction of airflow. The adaptive airflow control unit 401 includes a side inlet tangential fan 430 and a rotatable fan shroud 440 with an output opening 440 a and an input opening 440 b. As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the shroud 440 is used to change the direction of airflow and thereby effectively discharge the cold/warm air from the top and bottom end louvers 160 and 130, respectively. More particularly, the shroud 440 is rotatable by for example a motor (not shown) between a first position where the output opening 440 a is oriented generally toward the upper opening 161 and a second position where the output opening 440 a is oriented generally toward the lower opening 131. In this embodiment, unconditioned air flows into the housing 101 through a main air intake opening 101 a, and the indoor coil 140 is preferably disposed in or adjacent to the opening 101 a. The system 400 further includes an electrical heater 410 positioned preferably between the adaptive airflow control unit 401 and the lower opening 131 and in proximity with the bottom end louvers 130 in order to increase the temperature in the air right before the air is discharged from the bottom end louvers 130.
The air conditioner system 500 shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B includes a fan 510 for generating airflow. The configuration depicted in FIG. 5A indicates a discharge of cold air through the upper opening 161 of the housing 101. The configuration depicted in FIG. 5B illustrates a discharge of warm air through the lower opening 131 of the housing 101. The fan 510 includes fan blades 530. A reversible motor 520 is supported by the housing 101 and is drivingly connected to the fan 510. The fan 510 and the reversible motor 520 form the adaptive airflow control unit 501 in this embodiment. The reversible motor 520 changes the direction of operation of the fan 510 in clockwise and anti-clockwise directions with respect to the selected mode of operation (i.e., cooling/warming mode) in the air conditioner system 500. The indoor coil 140 can be configured below the adaptive airflow control unit 501 in order to cool or condition the un-conditioned air from the environment. In the configuration depicted in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the electrical heater 410 can be placed below the indoor coil 140 and in proximity with the bottom end louvers 130 for heating the air.
The fan 510 passes air through the electrical heater 410 to heat the unconditioned air in the conditioner system 500. The electrical heater 410 can include one or more heating elements, such as, for example, electric coils, warm water coils, gas-fired elements, heat pumps, or any other heating device known to one skilled in the art. Preferably, the electrical heater 410 can include a series of heating elements or other staged means to achieve two or more stages of heating. Each of the series of heating elements or stages is individually controllable, or the heating capacity of the electrical heater 410 is otherwise varied, so that one or more of the heating elements may be operated at a given time to control the amount of heat provided to the air.
The air conditioner system 600 shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B is a modification of the system 500 shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. The adaptive airflow control unit 601 further includes a rotatable air diverter 640, which substantially surrounds the fan 510 and the motor 520 and has two openings 640 a, 640 b. The housing 101 has additional upper opening 162 and lower opening 132 (which are preferably louvered), upper air flow paths or conduits 630 a, 630 b, and lower air flow paths or conduits 620 a, 620 b. The air diverter 640 is rotatable by, for example, a motor (not shown) between a first position where the openings 640 a, 640 b of the air diverter 640 communicate with the air flow paths 630 a, 620 b, respectively to connect these air flow paths 630 a, 620 b and a second position where the openings 640 a, 640 b of the air diverter 640 communicate with the air flow paths 630 b, 620 a, respectively, to connect air flow paths 630 b, 620 a.
FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate respective schematic, cross section views of an air conditioner system 700 that includes separate fans 710 and 720 for cooling/warming operation, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. A discharge of cold air is shown in the illustration of system 700 depicted in FIG. 7A. Similarly, a discharge of warm air is shown in the depiction of system 700 indicated in FIG. 7B. The air conditioner system 700 includes a fan 710 that is configured in proximity with the top end louvers 160 in order to discharge cold air into the intended environment. Similarly, a fan 720 is configured in proximity with the bottom end louvers 130 in order to discharge warm air into the intended environment. In this embodiment, the fans 710, 720 form the adaptive airflow control unit 701. Note that the fans 710, 720 can be, for example, side inlet tangential fans or in other embodiments, axial fans. The control unit 180 controls the activation and deactivation of the fans 710, 720. Unconditioned air flows into the housing 101 through a main air intake opening 101 a, and the indoor coil 140 is preferred disposed in or adjacent to the opening 101 a. The electric heater 410 can be positioned in proximity with the heating fan 720 to heat the air right before the warmed air is discharged into the environment through the bottom end louvers 130. FIGS. 7A and 7B show a projection 170 a which extends inward from the bulkhead portion 170 and facilitates the division of the air supply to the fans 710, 720. The projection 170 a can extend further to form or can be replaced by a dividing wall between the fans 710, 720.
The configurations depicted in FIGS. 1-7 can thus be effectively adapted for heating/cooling air in the environment and effectively maintain even temperatures across a room. Such an approach can be employed to increase the efficiency of the disclosed room air conditioner system(s) to maintain more even temperatures across a room and to improve comfort control and less thermal gradient.
Thus, while there have shown and described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the devices illustrated, and in their operation, may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/or method steps, which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results, are within the scope of the invention. Moreover, it should be recognized that structures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described in connection with any disclosed form or embodiment of the invention may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form or embodiment as a general matter of design choice. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

Claims

1. An air conditioner system comprising:

a housing having an upper opening and a lower opening;

a sealed refrigeration system supported by the housing for providing cold air in a cooling mode;

a heater disposed in the housing for providing warm air in a warming mode; and

an adaptive airflow control unit disposed in the housing and configured to discharge the cold air from the upper opening in order to transmit the cold air upward and high in an environment of the air conditioner system in the cooling mode and to discharge the warm air from the lower opening in order to transmit the warm air downward and low in the environment in the warming mode.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a control unit for operating the adaptive airflow control unit in the cooling mode and the warming mode.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the upper opening is a louvered opening.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the lower opening is a louvered opening.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the adaptive airflow control unit comprises a fan and a rotatable fan shroud having an output opening, the fan shroud being rotatable between a first position where the output opening is oriented generally toward the upper opening and a second position where the output opening is oriented generally toward the lower opening.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the fan is a side inlet tangential fan.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the heater is disposed between the adaptive airflow control unit and the lower opening.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein the housing further has a main air intake opening, the sealed refrigeration system comprising an evaporator disposed in or adjacent to the main air intake opening.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the main air intake opening is disposed between the upper opening and the lower opening.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the adaptive airflow control unit comprises a reversible motor supported by the housing, and a fan drivingly connected to the motor, wherein in the cooling mode, the motor rotates in a first direction and the fan moves the cold air toward the upper opening, and wherein in the warming mode, the motor rotates in a second direction opposite to the first direction and the fan moves the warm air toward the lower opening.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the heater is disposed between the adaptive airflow control unit and the lower opening.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the adaptive airflow control unit comprises a first fan unit configured to move the cold air toward the upper opening in the cooling mode and a second fan unit configured to move the warm air toward the lower opening in the warming mode.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the heater is disposed between the second fan unit and the lower opening.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein at least one of the first fan unit and the second fan unit comprises a tangential fan.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the housing further has a main air intake opening, the sealed refrigeration system comprising an evaporator disposed in or adjacent to the main air intake opening.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the main air intake opening is disposed between the upper opening and the lower opening.

17. The system of claim 1,

wherein the housing further has:

a second upper opening,

a second lower opening,

a first flow conduit extending inward from the upper opening,

a second flow conduit extending inward from the second upper opening,

a third flow conduit extending inward from the lower opening, and

a fourth flow conduit extending inward from the second lower opening, and

wherein the adaptive airflow control unit comprises:

a rotatable air diverter supported by the housing,

a reversible motor supported by the housing, and

a fan drivingly connected to the motor and disposed in the rotatable diverter,

wherein the rotatable air diverter is rotatable between a first position where the diverter connects the first flow conduit with the fourth flow conduit and a second position where the diverter connects the second flow conduit with the third flow conduit.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the sealed refrigeration system comprises an evaporator disposed in the rotatable diverter.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the heater is disposed in the air diverter.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein in the cooling mode, the motor rotates in a first direction and the fan moves the cold air toward the upper opening through the first flow conduit, and wherein in the warming mode, the motor rotates in a second direction opposite to the first direction and the fan moves the warm air toward the second lower opening through the fourth flow conduit.