"Closure Assembly for an Evaporator Unit"

Technical Field

This invention relates generally to evaporator units for air conditioning systems and, more particularly, to a closure assembly associated with the conditioned air discharge opening of an evaporator unit.

Background Art

In many commercial air conditioning, heating and ventilating systems, conditioned air is discharged into an internal space through an air distribution or conditioning unit. For example, one general type of air conditioning system, often referred to as a split system, includes separate indoor and outdoor units. The outdoor unit includes a compressor, a heat exchanger and a fan. The indoor unit includes a heat exchanger and a fan and is referred to as an evaporator unit. In operation, the indoor fan draws air into the evaporator unit, through an inlet thereof, and forces the air over the heat exchanger and then out of the evaporator unit, through an outlet opening therein.

The outdoor fan draws outdoor air into the outdoor unit, and circulates it over the outdoor heat exchanger and then back out to ambient. At the same time, a compressor causes a refrigeration fluid to circulate through and between the indoor/outdoor heat exchangers. At the indoor heat exchanger, the refrigerant absorbs heat from the air passing over that heat exchanger to cool the air. At the same time, at the outdoor heat exchanger, the air passing over the heat exchanger absorbs heat from the refrigerant passing therethrough.

Split type air conditioning units of this type are typically manufactured in a wide range of cooling capacities. In manufacturing such units, particularly as the units become larger, the fabrication and assembly of the various components becomes onerous and cumbersome. Typically, the larger the unit the more components are required and the more fasteners are required in order to assemble all of the components. It is considered extremely desirable to minimize the number of components and fasteners required in the fabrication and assembly process.

The housing for a evaporator unit normally includes a front cover having a conditioned air discharge opening therein, and a plurality of louvers disposed within the opening for directing the flow of discharge air therefrom. The louvers may be selectively adjustable and may be connected to a drive mechanism that automatically moves the louvers on a continuous basis to sweep the airflow across the discharge opening in a reciprocating manner.

Disclosure of the Invention

An evaporator unit for an air conditioning system includes a housing having a back panel and a front section with an air inlet opening and an air discharge opening. The housing includes an evaporator fan and an evaporator coil, and the fan causes the air to flow into the inlet opening, through the evaporator coil to be conditioned, and then out of the discharge opening. A closure assembly is provided to interconnect the top edge of the back plate and the top edge of the evaporator drain pan. Provision is made to connect the closure assembly to the back plate by way of mating lip and hook structures on the back plate and the closure member, respectively. Provision is also made for

the installation of a plurality of vertical louvers by snapping their respective shafts into the corresponding openings in the closure member. Groups of the vertical louvers are ganged together and are selectively adjustable to direct the flow of conditioned air leaving the discharge opening, as desired. A plurality of support brackets are attached to the closure member with each bracket having two arms, one arm being registerable with a surface of the condensate drain pan, and the other arm having snap-in slots for rotatably receiving mounting shafts of a horizontal louver. This louver is, in turn, connected to a stepper motor such that it is caused to pivot vertically, in a reciprocating manner, during operation of the system.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the evaporator unit in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. Fig. 2 is an exploded view thereof.

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the closure member of the evaporator unit in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of an assembled version thereof. Fig. 5 is a side view of the closure member with the back panel. Fig. 6 is a side view thereof after assembly with the back panel.

Fig. 7 is a partial perspective view of a horizontal louver member in accordance with one aspect of the invention.

Fig. 8 is a partial cross sectional view of the unit showing the horizontal louver member in its installed position. Fig. 9 is a perspective front view of the unit with the horizontal louver member being shown in a removed condition.

Detailed Description of the Invention

The present invention is shown generally at 10 in Fig. 1 as applied to an evaporator unit 11 which is shown as installed in a generally vertical orientation with its rear side 12 being installed against a wall 13 and its bottom side 14 being installed adjacent to the floor 16. Although the unit is also designed to be alternatively installed in a generally horizontal disposition with its back side 12 resting against the ceiling and its bottom side 14 resting against the side wall 13, it will be described in the context of the vertical orientation as shown. Thus, in addition to the back side 12 and the bottom side 14, the evaporator unit 11 has a front side 17, a top side 18, a left side 19, and a right side 21.

On the front side 17 of the evaporator unit 11 there is provided a front panel 36 behind which is an evaporator compartment that contains an evaporator coil 29. Below the front panel 36 is a grill structure 39, behind which is an air inlet opening which fluidly communicates with a blower in the fan assembly 27 which draws air inwardly through the grill structure 39 and over the evaporator coil 29 to be cooled. The cooled air is then discharged from a discharge opening 25 in the top side 18.

Referring to Fig. 2, the evaporator unit is shown in an exploded view to include all the various components prior to assembly. The sequence and manner of assembly will now be described.

A back panel 21 forms the primary structural component and a portion of the housing of the evaporator unit. An upper closure assembly 22 is

secured to the back panel 21 by first engaging an upper edge there thereof over an upper edge of the back panel 21 and then securing the two components together with fasteners 23. The left and right internal side assemblies, 24 and 26 are attached to the back panel 21 by fasteners. The fan assembly 27 is then secured to the lower portion of the back panel 21 by fasteners 28.

The next step in the assembly process is to install the evaporator coil 29 into the housing by placing its ends in the respective left and right internal side assemblies 24 and 26. The evaporator coil 29 is then secured in its installed position by a single screw at each end thereof which passes through the internal side assembly and into a tube sheet at the end of the evaporator coil 29. The evaporator coil 29 is so disposed within the evaporator compartment, which is partially defined by the back panel 21 and the left and right internal side assemblies 24 and 26. However, it is still necessary to close the ends of the evaporator compartment to prevent the flow of air therethrough. This is accomplished by way of left and right closure elements 31 and 32 which are simply placed in position without fasteners and then are held in place by engagement with the drain pan 33 which further defines the evaporator compartment. The drain pan 33 is secured in place by a fastener in each end to secure the respective left and right internal side assemblies 24 and 26 to the drain pan 33. A drain hose panel 34 is attached to a drainage element of the drain pan 33. A front panel 36 is then placed over the drain pan 33 and secured in place by fasteners, attaching it to both the left and right internal side assemblies 24 and 26 and also to the fan deck portion of the back panel 21.

Returning to the sides of the unit, a control box 37 is installed by

snap fit into the left internal side assembly 24 and a stepping motor 38 is also secured to the side assembly 24.

The blower compartment, which is partially formed by the lower portion of the back panel 21 and by the fan assembly 27, has an air intake opening therein. This intake opening is partially closed by way of a grill 39 into which a plurality of filter elements 41 are placed.

The next step is to connect the stepping motor 38 to a horizontal louver mechanism on the upper closure assembly 22 and the horizontal louver

42 is secured at its ends to the left and right internal side assemblies 24 and 26 and, in its intermediate portion, to the upper closure assembly 22. The left and right end caps, 43 and 44, are then secured to the respective left and right internal side assemblies 24 and 26 respectively, to complete the assembly process.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4, the upper closure assembly 22 is shown, respectively in an exploded view and as assembled and installed with the back panel 21. It includes a body 46 which extends transversely across the upper length of the back panel 21, and a plurality of vanes 47 attached thereto and being adjustably positionable to selectively vary the transverse direction of the cooled air exiting from the discharge opening 25.

The body 46 comprises a rear member 48, a front member 49, and a plurality of gang bars 51. The gang bars 57 are aligned and attached to an inner side of the rear member 48, and the front member 49 has a plurality of slots 52

that register with the openings 53 in the gang bars 51 when the front member 49 is secured to the rear member 48 to form the body 46. The body rear member 48 is formed of a rigid and relatively high strength plastic material, and the front member 49 is formed of a relatively light material such as polystyrene. The rear member 48 and front member 49 are secured together by appropriate fasteners.

Each of the vanes 47 includes a blade portion 54 and a shaft portion 56. The body front member 49 and rear member 48 are secured together with the plurality of gang bars 57 enclosed within. The plurality of vanes are inserted through the respective slots 52 and into the openings 53 of the gang bars 51. The shaft portion 56 of the vanes 47 are designed such that they can be snapped into the openings 53 in such a way as to be retained by the respective gang bars 51. Further, each of the individual gang bars 51 can be selectively positioned in a reciprocal manner so as to vary the angle of the vanes 47 within that particular gang bar. That is, for each of the gang bars, their installed vanes 47 are all varied in unison so as to be positioned at the same angle. In this way, the three groups of vanes 47 may be selectively positionable to three different angles for purposes of transversely diverting the cooled air flow in the desired directions.

As will be seen in Fig. 4, the back panel 21 includes a vertical wall

57 and a horizontal shelf 58. The vertical wall forms a rear portion of each of the blower compartment and the heat exchanger compartment thereabove. The horizontal shelf 58 forms a lower boundary of the blower compartment. As shown in Fig. 4, the upper closure assembly 22 is secured to the upper edge of the vertical wall 57. This is accomplished by a two-step process as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6.

As will be seen in Fig. 5, the vertical wall 57 of the back panel 21 includes at its upper end a lip 59 that extends rearwardly. In a somewhat mating fashion, the closure assembly body 36 includes at its upper edge a hook 61 so that the rear side of the hook 61 can be engaged against the lip 59 as shown. In the first step of the assembly process, the closure assembly 22 is tipped upwardly as shown in Fig. 5 and the hook 61 is engaged with the lip 59 as shown. The upper closure assembly 22 is then rotated downwardly to the position as shown in Fig. 6 and is secured in that position while the hook 61 remains in its engaged position with a lip 59.

Referring again to Fig. 3, the upper closure assembly front member 49 includes a pair of rectangular openings 62, behind each of which is a pedestal 65, which is formed as part of the rear member 48. Also provided as a part of the upper closure assembly 22 are a pair of brackets 63, each of which include a base 64 a curvilinear body 66 and a pair of arms 67 and 68. The base 64 is adapted to pass through the rectangular opening 62 and be secured to the pedestal 65 with the curvilinear body 66 then extending outwardly as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The arm 67 has a pair of fingers 69 and 71 which form a slot 72 which is adapted to receive, in a snap-fit relationship, a mounting member of a horizontal louver as will be described hereinafter. The arm 68 has a rather pointed end 73 which interfaces with a portion of a condensate drain pan as will be described hereinafter.

Having described the vanes which are adjustable to selectively direct the flow of cooled air in the transverse direction, the horizontal louver member for selectively directing the flow of air in the vertical direction will now

be described. The horizontal louver member 74 is shown in Fig. 7 to include an elongate body extending transversely across the discharge opening 25 as shown in Fig. 9 and having a slightly curvilinear cross section as shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

At intermediate positions corresponding to the position of the brackets 63 are a pair of bosses 77 and 78 with a post 79 extending therebetween. The posts 79 are so sized and positioned that they are adapted to be snap-fit into the respective slots 72 of the brackets 63 as shown in Fig. 8.

At the one end 82 of the horizontal louver member 74 is provided a drive collar 83 which extends outwardly and is engageable with the drive shaft of the stepping motor 38, which acts to oscillate the horizontal louver member up and down so as to continuously vary the vertical direction of the air flow.

During the assembly process as described hereinabove, the upper closure assembly 22 is installed prior to the drain pan 33 and the front panel 36 being installed. As will be seen in Fig 8, when the drain pan 33 is placed in its installed position, its one end 84 comes to rest against the pointed end 73 of the arm 68 as shown. The front panel 36 may then be installed with its outer profile being substantially the same as the outer profile of the elongate body 76 of the horizontal louver member 74.