US2497947A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

J. M. LEWIS AIR CONDITIONER Feb. 21, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 16, 1946 Jsgpi M Zen/1s IN V EN TOR.

[175' AGENT J. M. LEWIS AIR CONDITIONER Feb. 21, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 16, 1946 M Lew. INVEN'I'OR.

HIS/165W]? Patented Feb. 21, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT orrica Claims.

1 This invention relates to improvements in air conditioners and more particularly to air con- .tiitioners for lowering the temperature of air by passing it through fibrous material which is kept moistened.

Heretofore air conditioners of the type in which the air has been moistened usually have had combined therewith fan or blower mechanism which made the unit so large as to substantially eliminate the use of the window in which it was installed, made for unpleasant noise and directed the conditioned air to one portion of a room.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an air conditioner which is neat in appearance, which occupies only a relatively small portion of a window while possessing a relatively large air intake opening.

Another object of this present invention is to provide an air conditioner that may be installed within a window opening in such manner that the window may be opened and closed as desired.

Another object of this invention is to provide an air conditioner installed within a window opening the air inlet of which may be regulated by the amount the window is raised or lowered.

Another object of this invention is to provide an air conditioner that moistens the air, lowers the temperature thereof and filters same as it passes into the room.

Another object of this invention is to provide an air conditioner that keeps the relative humidity of the air in the room low and always fresh by passing the cooled, filtered air through the room only once before it is exhausted.

Still another object of this invention is to provide one or more air conditioner units within the window openings of a house so that the entire house may be air conditioned by the use of a single exhaust fan positioned at some remote point from the air inlet.

Yet another object ofthe invention is to provide an air conditioner the air inlet and filter of which is sheltered from outside weather conditions but at the same time provides for the ready changing or cleaning of the filter.

With the foregoing objects in mind and others that will manifest themselves as the description proceeds, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of the air conditioner cabinet with parts broken away and with parts shown in section to illustrate the details of construction;

with parts broken away and with parts shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view through the air conditioner cabinet showing the manner of installing it within a window with a portion of the building shown in dashed outline;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on theline 5--5 of Fig. 4; i

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the detachable, adjustable louver members used for directing the course or the incoming air;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a filter holding element in open position; and I Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic sectional view through a house showing the path of air through the air conditioner and the exhaust fan, with parts shown in elevation.

According to this present invention, one or more protected air inlet filters and moisteners for cooling and cleaning the incoming air may be installed in one or more rooms of the house and the air discharged by a single exhaust fan positioned remote from the air inlets.

With more detailed reference to the drawings the numeral i designates a conventionalhouse having windows 2 therein. An air conditioner generally designated by thenumeral 3 is positioned within one of thewindow openings 2. An exhaust fan 4 may be positioned within theattic 5 of the house I so that it will withdraw air from the interior of house I which will in turn cause air to fiow inward as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 8, and be discharged through venti lator opening 6.

The air conditioner generally designated as 3 has a shell 7 which has an open face on one side to receive afilter element 8 and to form an air inlet passage. It is preferable that thefilter element 8 be composed of a fibrous material 9, such as rock wool, wood excelsior, fibre glass or other suitable material on which water can collect so as to moisten and filter the air which passes therethrough.

Thefilter element 8 is composed of, preferably, a one-piece sheet metal frame It, and an opening in either side thereof to permit the air to pass therethrough. These openings are covered with a mesh material such as screen wire or the like, so as to hold the fibrous'material in compact relation when thefilter unit 8 is closed Fig. 2 is an elevational view of a water feeder together, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 4. The frame ID has an out-turned lip II on the 'lower and outer portion thereof so as to support the filter in 3 the correct position when it is placed within the open side oithe cabinet I as indicated in Figs. 1 and 4. Guide members I: are secured to either ing it so that the filter unit I may be readily inserted into or be removed from the opening to allow for cleaning or renewal of the fibrous material. v I

A perforated water supply pipe I! is positioned directly above filter unit i and has a fabrictubuiar member It positioned therearound and secured thereto as by bands II. The tubular fabric member I! has a series of pointed toothed projections l8 extending downwardly therefrom so as to evenly distribute water discharged from perforated pipe I! even if some of the perforations should be stopped up. The holes in the perforated pipe I! are preferably at the top of the pipe and spaced along the length thereof. The pipe It connects with a supply pipe I! which has avalve 20 therein so as to regulate the amount of water directed onto the filter element I. A water outlet 29a is formed in the bottom of shell I and has a neck extending downwardly therefrom to allow the attachment of a hose thereto for directing the waste water to some remote point, if so desired.

The pipe it rises upward from a point below the shell land passes into the neck portion 2i of the shell which forms an air outlet passage from the shell. The air is directed throughadjustable louvers 22 which are positioned within removable frame 22d into a room as indicated in Fig. 8. Eachlouver 22 is positioned on avertical shaft 22b to admit of manual adjustment to direct the air outward into the room at any desired angle.

Theair conditioner 3 is adapted to be placed in the lower portion of a window opening and-has a downwardly turned re-entrantlip 23 along the top of air passage 2i adapted to engage a complementary up-turned re-entrantlip 24 secured along the lower edge ofwindow sash 25 with the window sash in raised position, as shown in Fig. 4. By

raising and lowering the window the correct amount of air may be admitted into the room or thewindow sash 25 may be completely closed,

sufficient volume through the excelsior or other fibrous material to adequately supply the relativelyunimpeded opening 2| under the influence of suction created by the fan I.

In the operation of the device theair conditioner 3 is placed within the window opening 2 and water pipe I! properly connected to pipe I to permit the water to flow upward through pipe l9 and fill tubular fabric member i6 so the water will be evenly distributed along the entire length of thefilter element 8. of the filter is relatively large as compared to the outlet, therefore comparatively little pressure differential between the inlet and the outlet will be developed in drawing the air through the moist fibrous filter andmoistening element 8. The air will pass outward through outlet opening 2| into The area of the a'r inlet 4 It is to be pointed out that the present air conditioner utilizes only a relatively small portion of the window area and that the window may be .freely opened or closed within the limits of reentrant lips 28-24 for regulating the air or for closing and locking the window. Furthermore, the air inlet is beneath the air outlet portion 2i and is normally shaded and sheltered against weather and may be used during a rain storm without the likelihood of water heating through the fibrous elements.

The filter pads are also protected, due to the fact that they are in close proximity to the wall of the building.

It may be further pointed out that one or more units may be installed in each room and still utilize a single exhaust fan, thereby the entire house may be easily and efficiently air conditioned and since the moist air is being moved outward rather than being forced into the room, the relative humidity does not approach the saturation point as readily as if the moist air is being forced into the building without the proper outlets.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is:

1. An air conditioner system for cooling and humidifying air used in a building and comprising an air conditioning unit comprising a holow housing adapted to fit into the lower portion of a window of said building, said housing having an outwardly and downwardly depending neck portion, an air inlet on the inner side of said downwardly depending neck portion and an air outlet into said building on the upper end of said housing, fibrous material disposed within a confining element within said air inlet opening in such manner as to permit air to pass therethrough into said building, and a water dispensing element including a pipe having upwardly directed perforations formed therein positioned above said fibrous material for evenly distributing water downward onto said fibrous material to pass therethrough for evenly moistening all of said fibrous material over which the incoming air passes.

2. An air conditioner system for cooling and humidifying air used in.a building and comprising an air conditioning unit comprising a hollow housing adapted to fit into the lower portion of a window of said building, said housing having an outwardly and downwardly depending'neck portion, an air inlet into said building on the inner side of said downwardly depending neck portion, an air outet into said building on the upper end of said housing, fibrous material disposed with a confining element within said air inlet opening in such manner as to permit air to pass therethrough into said building, a perforated water dispensing pipe disposed above said fibrous material, said perforated water pipe having upwardiy directed perforations and a tubular fabric covering therearound, the ends of which tubular fabric covering are in binding relation with said pipe so the water will be forced outward through said tubular fabric covering and be distributed downward onto and through said fabric coverthe room of the house and be directed thereing to evenly moisten same and over which the incoming air passes.

3. An air conditioner system for cooling and humidifying air used in a building and comprising an air conditioning unit comprising a hollow housing adapted to fit into the lower portion of a window of said building, said housing having an outwardly and downwardly depending neck portion, an air inlet on the inner side ofsaid downwardly depending neck portion and an air outlet into said building on the upper end of said housing, fibrous material disposed within a confining element within said air inlet opening in such manner as to permit air to pass therethrough into said building, a water dispensing pipe having upwardly directed perforations formed therein disposed above said fibrous material and having a tubular fabric covering therearound, said tubular fabric covering having the ends thereof in binding relation with said pipe and having depending toothed portions for directing water onto said fibrous material.

4. An air conditionersystem for coolin and humidifying air used in a building, an air conditioning unit comprising a hollow housing adapted to fit within the lower portion of a window opening of said building, said housing having an outwardly and downwardly depending neck portion, an air inlet on the inner side of said downwardly depending neck portion and an air outlet into said building on the upper end of said housing, fibrous material disposed within a co fi ng element in such manner as to permit air to pass therethrough into said building, said confining element adapted to be removably inserted within the air inlet of said housing, a water dispensing perforated pipe disposed above said fibrous material. said perforated pipe having upwardly directed perforations therein, a tubular fabric covering therearound the ends of which ar in binding relation with said pipe so that water passing from said pipe will fill and be forced through said fibrous covering which has depending tooth-like members disposed along the length thereof 'to direct water evenly onto the fibrous material to be passed evenly downward therethrough to moisten said fibrous material through which the incoming air passes, said incoming air being cooled and humidified thereby.

5. In an air conditioning system to be used file of this patent:

6 in conjunction with a building, wherein outside air is drawn into the building through an air conditioning unit and exhausted from said building through an outlet, remote from said air conditioning unit, the combination of a window opening in said building, an outlet in said building remote from said window opening, an air exhaust fan in said outlet, an air conditioning unit disposed in the lower portion of said window opening, said air conditioning unit-comprising a hollow housing having a portion extending outwardly of said opening and downwardly adjacent a wall of said building, an air inlet in said portion facing said wall of said building, a removable frame in said housing containing fibrous material, and means in said housing for moistening said fibrous material.

JOSEPH M. LEWIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 706,327 Lawrence Aug. 5, 1902 835,895 Smith Nov. 13, 1906 2,010,808 Braine Aug. 13, 1935 2,035,653 Haskell Mar. 31, 1936 2,051,079 Faber et al Aug. 18, 1936 2,087,637 Burt July 20, 1937 2,187,019 De Mund et a1 Jan. 16, 1940 2,189,391 Bowdish Feb. 6, 1940 2,333,374Guthrie Nov 2, 1943 2,376,341 Burk et a1. May 22, 1945 2,380,586 Essick July 81, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 6,756 France Dec. 22, 1906

Images