UNIVERSALLY INSTALLABLE AIR CONDITIONING UNIT DESCRIPTION The present invention relates to a universally installa- ble air conditioning unit, particularly designed for residential, commercial or industrial buildings. In par- ticular, the invention relates to independent installa- ble air conditioning units, also known as independent stationary air conditioning units, consisting of one or more inner units, which are installed inside the build- ing, and a"motocondensing"outer unit, which is in- stalled outside the building. Said structure split up into one or more units is known in the field as"split system". In said known air conditioning systems the in- ner unit basically comprises a first battery for a cool- ant fluid, a fan and an electric and/or electronic con- trol card for the air conditioning unit, all of which are housed within a housing framework. On the first bat- tery of the inner unit is generated during cooling con- densation water, which is collected in a suitable tank and then disposed of on the first battery or conveyed outside by means of a draining tube. The outer unit houses within a second housing framework a second bat- tery for the coolant fluid and a fan generating a forced ventilation through the second battery. The first bat- tery acts as evaporator of the coolant fluid during room cooling, whereas it acts as condenser while operating as heat pump and therefore during room heating. Obviously, the second battery always works in the opposite mode with respect to the first battery. The outer unit and the inner unit are connected one to the other by means of a double tube conveying the coolant fluid and of a multiple electric connection. The arrangement of the in- ner unit in the room to be conditioned differs depending on specific contingent needs. In particular, it is known about several types of inner units, among which "visible"units, comprising"low wall"units installed on the floor or on the wall close to the floor, and "high wall"units installed close to the ceiling and ", ceiling"' units. It is further known about partially hidden units, such as"box"-like units partially located within false ceilings and having only a panel with in- take grille and air outlet deflectors in sight, and com- pletely hidden units, such as canalizable units wholly fitted into false ceilings and having only openings on the wall or anemostats on the ceiling in sight.

It should further be reminded that known air condition- ing units are basically divided into independent air conditioning units and centralized systems. Independent air conditioning units are appliances that operate with- out being connected to a system and are generally used to condition only one room. Currently existing types, mainly including"split systems" (split up into two sec- tions to be placed one inside and the other one outside the room) and"packaged systems" (monobloc appliances equipped with one or more communication connections with the outside), can be installed in several types of buildings. Centralized air conditioning systems consist of a series of appliances, with different sizes and fea- tures, performing their function only if interconnected one to the other by means of hydraulic or coolant fluid, electric or aeraulic connections. Said systems can be installed both in domestic environments and in large buildings such as airports, public buildings, shopping centers etc.

Traditional inners units as described above are carried out specifically for the type of installation desired, since the various components and their arrangements (for instance the position of air outlet openings and of con- densate tanks) are suited to the specific application.

Said known units, being carried out specifically for each single application, have several drawbacks due ba- sically to their low flexibility. This results in higher manufacturing, storage and installation costs for air conditioning units, beyond difficulty in adapting said units to the specific needs of the room to be condi- tioned.

In order to obviate said drawbacks some multiple instal- lation inner units have been proposed. A first known so- lution suggests an inner unit that can be installed in two operating positions (low wall or high wall) rotated of 180°. Said units are equipped with two condensate tanks arranged above and below the first battery. Said solution increases application possibilities for the unit, but is not yet fully satisfying in terms of flexi- bility.

A second known solution envisages the arrangement of at least three condensate tanks around the first battery on three sides of the framework, so as to install the unit in three operating positions (low wall, high wall and ceiling) rotated of 90° one with respect to the others.

Said solution, however, has a high structural complex- ity, a high cost, a non-optimal arrangement of air flows in the three positions and a large overall size also due to the presence of said three tanks, which further in- terfere with air flow.

Under these circumstance the technical task underlying the present invention is to provide a universally installable air conditioning unit that can basically ob- viate the aforesaid drawbacks. In particular, a techni- cal aim of the present invention is to provide a univer- sally installable air conditioning unit that has an ex- tremely high flexibility of use, enabling to meet with only one appliance almost all known applications, with an optimal air flow arrangement. Another aim of the pre- sent invention is to conceive a universally installable air conditioning unit to which no changes have to be made in case of installation in different positions. A further aim of the present invention is to conceive a universally installable air conditioning unit that is simple and cheap to be carried out and installed. These and other aims, which shall be evident in the course of the following description, are basically achieved by an air conditioning unit having the characteristics listed in the appended claims. Further characteristics and ad- vantages shall be further inferable from the detailed description of a preferred though not exclusive embodi- ment of a universally installable air conditioning unit according to the present invention. Said description shall be hereinafter stated with reference to the accom- panying drawings, provided to a mere and therefore non- limiting purpose, in which: - Figure 1 schematically shows an air conditioning unit according to the present invention; - Figure 2 is a perspective view of an inner unit of the air conditioner of Figure 1 with first fastening means to be applied to the unit; - Figure 3 is a perspective view of an inner unit of the air conditioner of Figure 1 with second fastening means to be applied to the unit; - Figure 4 shows the inner unit of Figure 2 in exploded view; - Figure 5 shows a cross section of an inner unit in a first operating position; - Figure 6 shows a cross section of an inner unit in a second operating position; - Figure 7 shows a cross section of an inner unit in a third operating position; - Figure 8 shows a cross section of an inner unit in a fourth operating position; - Figure 9 shows a cross section of an inner unit in a variant of the third operating position, the unit being close both to the wall and to the ceiling and secured to one of them; - Figure 10 is a schematic view of a room to be condi- tioned with four inner units installed in the four dif- ferent operating positions shown in detail in Figures 5 to 9 ; - Figure 11 is similar to Figure 10 and shows an execu- tion variant of the invention.

With reference to the accompanying figures, the univer- sally installable air conditioning unit is globally re- ferred to with the numeral 1. As can be seen in Figure 1, the air conditioner 1 basically comprises an inner unit 2 and an outer unit 3, installed in a building 4.

The inner unit 2 is mounted onto a wall 5 or a ceiling 6 of the building 4 in an inner room 7 to be condi- tioned, by means of suitable fastening means 8, whereas the outer unit 3 is installed outside the building 4.

The outer unit 3 comprises a housing framework 9, hous- ing inside at least a second battery for the coolant fluid, a compressor for the coolant fluid operatively connected to the second battery, and a fan generating a forced air flow through the second battery (said ele- ments are not shown in the figures since they are of conventional type). The second battery basically con- sists of a radiator equipped with a plurality of cooling fins helping heat exchange between the primary fluid, i. e. the coolant fluid, and the secondary fluid, i. e. air blown by the fan. The outer unit 3 further comprises other conventional elements, such as the electric motor of the fan, an electronic control system of said unit and a plurality of inner ducts. The outer unit 3 is con- nected to the inner unit 2 by means of conventional con- necting lines 10, which comprise an intake conveying tube for the coolant fluid from the inner unit 2 to the outer unit 3, a return conveying tube from the outer unit 3 to the inner unit 2 and a multiple electric con- nection for operatively connecting the two units.

The inner unit 2 comprises at least a first battery 11 for a coolant fluid and an electric fan 12, preferably a tangential one, generating a forced air'flow through the first battery 11. The inner unit 2 further comprises two tanks 13 and 14 for collecting condensation water, operatively arranged on two ends of the first battery 11. The inner unit 2 further comprises an outer frame 15 housing the various components of said unit 2. The frame 15 (see Figures 2 to 4) is provided with an air inlet opening 16, equipped with gratings 16a and intake fil- ters 16b, with an air outlet opening 17, with a first installation surface 15a and with a second installation surface 15b. Preferably, the first installation surface 15a and the second installation surface 15b are close to one another. Advantageously, the frame 15 is substan- tially parallelepiped-shaped with a basically square section on a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal de- velopment of said unit. The inner unit 2 is further equipped with first fastening means 8a to be operatively associated with the first installation surface 15a so as to apply the inner unit 2 to a wall 5 in a given operat- ing position. According to the present invention the in- ner unit 2 is further equipped with second fastening means 8b to be operatively associated with the second installation surface 15b of the frame 15 so as to apply the inner unit 2 to the wall 5 or to a ceiling 6 in an- other operating position. Said fastening means 8 can be for instance supporting brackets or any other type of known fastening elements that are suitable for applica- tion to the surfaces of the frame 15 so as to enable its installation onto a peripheral and/or inner wall. The inner unit 2 eventually comprises some conventional ele- ments, such as for instance electric and/or electronic control means 19, a water pump 20, etc.

In the accompanying figures arrows with letter A refer to inlet air flows getting into the inner unit and with letter B to outlet flows. In a preferred embodiment, shown in the accompanying figures 1 to 10, the inner unit 2 can be associated with the wall 5 through first fastening means 8a in at least a first"low wall"oper- ating position (Figure 5), in which air gets out of the inner unit 2 from above, and in a second"high wall"op- erating position (Figure 6), in which air gets out from below and the inner unit 2 is rotated of 180°. In said embodiment the inner unit 2 can be further applied to the ceiling 6 of the room 7 through the second installa- tion surface 15b and the second fastening means 8b at least in a third operating position (Figure 7) wholly similar to the second"high wall"operating position in which air gets out from below. When the unit is mounted onto the ceiling, the same intake grilles 16a placed on the air inlet opening 16 (see Figure 3) can be applied onto the first installation surface 15a to aesthetical purposes. In an execution variant, schematically shown in Figure 11, the inner unit 2 can be associated with the wall 5 through the first fastening means 8a in a first"low wall"operating position, in which air gets out of the inner unit 2 from above, and can be associ- ated with the wall 5 through the second fastening means in a second"high wall"operating position, in which air gets out on one side and the inner unit 2 is rotated of 90°. In said embodiment the battery is arranged in an inclined position with respect to the walls of the frame 15, and the two basins are suitably shaped for collect- ing condensate basically whatever the position of the frame 15. In this embodiment the inner unit 2 can be further applied to a ceiling 6 through the second fas- tening means in a fourth operating position, rotated of 180° with respect to the first"low wall"operating po- sition, in which air gets out from below. Alternatively, the inner unit 2 can be applied to the ceiling 6 through the first fastening means 8a in a third operating posi- tion wholly similar to the second"high wall"operating position in which air gets out on one side.

Advantageously, the inner unit 2 further comprises means 18 for directing the air flow getting out of the inner unit 2, arranged on the outlet opening 17. According to the present invention said means 18 for directing the air flow comprise at least a first deflector 18a and a second deflector 18b, which can be shifted at least be- tween a first operating position in which the outlet air flow B is directed in only one direction, and a second operating position in which the outlet air flow B is split up into at least two directions B1 and B2. Said technical solution can be advantageously applied to any type of inner unit 2, also with only one tank 13 and with specific installation, for instance onto the ceil- ing. In a preferred application the inner unit 2 can be mounted onto the ceiling 6 in at least a lateral operat- ing position (Figure 7) in which it is arranged close to a vertical wall 5 and in which the deflectors 18a, 18b direct the air flow B only in an opposite direction with respect to the wall 5, and a central operating position (Figure 8) with respect to the ceiling 6, in which the deflectors 18a, 18b direct the air flow B in two oppo- site directions B1, B2 towards two different walls 5.

This can be obtained through various different arrange- ments of the deflectors 18a, 18b, and by taking conven- ient measures it is further possible to split the flow up into more than two directions. In the preferred em- bodiment at least one of said deflectors 18a can be mounted in at least a first installation position in which it can rotate in a first direction (Figure 7), and in a second installation position in which it can rotate in a second position (Figure 8). This can be obtained for instance by envisaging on the frame 15 a double mounting hinge in the two operating positions and by mounting the rotation axis of the deflector on one of <BR> <BR> the two hinges, . Advantageously, the deflectors 18a, 18b are equipped with a motor, for instance an electric mo- tor, and can therefore be actuated automatically, also by remote control.

The invention also enables to install the inner unit 2 onto the ceiling in a"box"-shaped configuration, par- tially hidden in the false ceiling. This can be easily obtained by simply embedding the inner unit 2 described above into the false ceiling in the same position as on the ceiling 6, the inner unit 2 sucking the air flow in a suitable position for said application. This is helped by the advantageous arrangement of inlet and outlet air flows, since the air inlet opening 16 and the air outlet opening 17 of the inner unit 2 are positioned at 90° one with respect to the other in the frame 15. Also the ad- vantageous arrangement of the first battery and of the tangential fan enables to optimize the working of the unit in all operating positions. It should eventually be pointed out that, as can be seen from the figures, and in particular from Figure 4, the inner unit is highly modular and it is possible to carry out units with dif- ferent refrigerating powers keeping the cross section unchanged and simply using longer components such as for instance the first battery, the tanks, the fan and the longitudinal walls of the frame.

An air conditioning unit according to the present inven- tion, described above from a mainly structural point of view, works as follows.

Workers in charge of the installation of the air condi- tioning unit decide the ideal position of the inner unit in the room 7 to be conditioned, then secure the suit- able fastening means 8 to the frame 15 and install the inner unit in the desired position simply and rapidly, without making further changes to the unit 2. If the unit 2 is installed onto the ceiling 6 close to the wall 5, the installer mounts the deflectors 18a, 18b so as to obtain a monodirectional air flow B towards the middle of the room 7, whereas when the unit is placed far from the lateral walls, the deflectors 18a, 18b are mounted so as to obtain an air jet split up into at least two opposite directions B1, B2. If the inner unit is in- stalled in a"box"-shaped configuration, the installer partially embeds it into the false ceiling of the room 7.

When the air conditioning unit is being used, the de- flectors 18a, 18b are further adjusted by the corre- sponding electric motor. The remaining parts of the air conditioner are installed in quite a conventional way.

It should further be pointed out that the air condi- tioner according to the present invention can also be integrated into a centralized system as air conditioning terminal unit. In such a case the primary fluid convey- ing heat (which therefore circulates in the tubes of the heat exchanger) can be the same coolant fluid used in the refrigerating cycle (direct expansion multisplit systems) or an intermediate fluid such as water (hot or refrigerated water system). The inner unit is carried out and used in the same way as described above for the solution applied to an independent air conditioner, and also its positioning flexibility remains the same.

The invention has important advantages. A universally installable air conditioning unit according to the pres- ent invention has an extremely high flexibility of use and allows to meet almost all possible known applica- tions, both in sight and partially hidden, with only one inner unit. The invention further enables to obtain an arrangement of outlet air flows that is always optimal for every type of installation. It should further be noted that the invention enables to obtain an inner unit that does not require any change so as to be installed in different positions and therefore ensures a simple and fast installation. Moreover, it should be pointed out that the invention enables to carry out an air con- ditioning unit with a simple structure and easy to be carried out, which thanks to the possibility of having one inner unit for all applications, allows to reduce dramatically manufacturing and storage costs.

The invention thus conceived can undergo several changes and variants, all of which fall within the inventive idea characterizing it. Furthermore, all details can be replaced by technically equivalent elements and any size can be used, depending on contingent needs.