Refrigeration – With means preventing or handling atmospheric condensate... – Means utilizing heat developed by refrigeration producer
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-09
2001-10-09
Bennett, Henry (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
With means preventing or handling atmospheric condensate...
Means utilizing heat developed by refrigeration producer
C062S183000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06298682
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to room air conditioners and is more specifically directed to the configuration of the condenser coil fan orifice to prevent the discharge of collected condensate and water from the side of the air conditioner housing.
BACKGROUND ART
Room air conditioners quite often have a slinger ring associated with the condenser fan on the outdoor side of the unit. The slinger is adapted to pass through a pool of condensate water collected in the unit's basepan underlying the condenser fan and to thereby direct a water spray along with a flow of cooling air across the unit's condenser heat exchanger. The outer housing of the air conditioner unit contains a plurality of openings therein through which the air directed by the condenser fan over the condenser heat exchanger is drawn into the housing. Under some circumstances, some of the water picked up by the condenser fan slinger ring will be splashed radially outwardly and through the side openings in the housing. This condition is considered undesirable in that the water could splash on adjacent structures and will drip onto anything located under the unit and thus cannot be controlled by way of the usual means for collecting and disposing of excess condensate.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, an orifice member is provided for the condenser fan of an air conditioning unit. The air conditioning unit has a basepan, which supports a condenser coil at the rear thereof and a condenser fan disposed forwardly of the condenser coil. The fan has a slinger ring formed at the outer periphery thereof. The slinger ring and the basepan are configured such that condensate water from the air conditioning unit will collect in the basepan underlying the bottom of the fan so that the slinger ring will be immersed in the collected water, pick up the water and direct it towards the condenser coil. The air conditioning unit further includes an outer housing having openings therein adjacent the condenser fan. An orifice member is provided with a fan orifice opening therein located generally forwardly of the fan so that in operation the fan draws air through the openings in the housing, through the orifice opening and directs it rearwardly through the condenser coil. Means are provided for preventing water picked up by the slinger ring from being directed radially outwardly and through the openings in the housing. The means includes a diverter element located on the orifice at a position offset from the bottom of the orifice in the direction of rotation of the fan. The deflector element extends radially inwardly into the orifice opening. An arcuate deflector surface is located on the orifice member at a position adjacent the orifice opening and extending in one direction from a position angularly displaced from the diverter element in the direction of rotation of the fan to a position extending at least to a lateral edge of the orifice. The deflector surface also extends for a distance forwardly from the orifice.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3079769 (1963-03-01), Philco-Ford
patent: 3766751 (1973-10-01), Ball
patent: 3783637 (1974-01-01), Woods
patent: 3811293 (1974-05-01), Flynn
patent: 4248057 (1981-02-01), Yaguchi
patent: 4793148 (1988-12-01), Ikari et al.
patent: 5272886 (1993-12-01), Ukai et al.
patent: 2205938 (1988-12-01), None
de Souza Gilberto Fagundes
Ramos Paulo Augusto Lisboa
Bennett Henry
Carrier Corporation
Jiang Chen-Wen
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