Refrigeration – With repair – assembly or disassembly means
Patent
1998-07-13
2000-02-15
Bennett, Henry
Refrigeration
With repair, assembly or disassembly means
62262, 416178, F25D 2312
Patent
active
060239395
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention is directed to air conditioners, and more particularly to a subassembly of a fan and motor for use in the evaporator section of an air conditioner.
BACKGROUND ART
Room air conditioners generally comprise an inside fan or blower, which is powered by a motor to draw air through an evaporator coil to be cooled and to direct the cooled air back into the space being cooled. Such air conditioners also include a condenser coil for dissipating the heat picked up by the evaporator coil and a second fan is provided to cause an air flow over the condenser coil to increase the heat dissipation of that coil. A compressor is provided to increase the pressure of a refrigerant which is then supplied to the evaporator coil for evaporation and thus cooling.
Due to the complexity of and numbers of parts associated with a room air conditioner, assembly of such a device often times includes complicated and time intensive assembly steps and requires intricate manipulation of parts and tools. Such a process results in an increased cost of the room air conditioner due to increased manufacturing costs.
Whenever it is possible to assemble components of such an air conditioner in a manner requiring fewer fasteners or to occupy less space, it is considered desirable. It is considered particularly desirable in an air conditioner of the type having a separate motor and fan arrangement for the indoor or evaporator section for the assembly of such motor and fan to be as simple as possible and occupy as little axial space as possible.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, a subassembly of an electric motor and a fan for use in an air conditioner includes a centrifugal fan adapted for rotation about a longitudinal axis. The fan has an open inlet end at one longitudinal end thereof and convex closed end partition defining a cup-shaped space at the other axial end thereof. The fan motor comprises a housing having an axial length and a width and a drive shaft extending from one axial end thereof. The closed end partition of the centrifugal fan has a centrally disposed axially extending opening therethrough through which the drive shaft of the motor is adapted to be received and operatively attached. The width of the motor housing and the cup-shaped space are sized to allow a substantial portion of the axial length of the motor housing to be received within said cup-shaped space when the drive shaft is operably attached to the partition. In a preferred embodiment, an evaporator module for an air conditioner includes a structural indoor housing having a rear wall which is provided with an axial opening therein which is adapted to receive at least a portion of the evaporator fan motor therein. The rear wall further includes fan support structure associated therewith, which defines said opening. The fan support structure is adapted to extend into said cup-shaped space to engage the fan support structure to support the fan and motor subassembly in its desired operative position with respect to the housing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention may be better understood and its objects and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a room air conditioner which embodies the features of this invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the air conditioner of FIG. 1 removed from the base pan and showing the separate indoor and outdoor modules;
FIG. 3 is a top elevational view of the air conditioner of FIG. 1 with the cover of the outdoor module removed and the top of the indoor module partially broken away;
FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the air conditioner of FIG. 1 with the front grille removed;
FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the indoor module with portions thereof broken away to show internal components thereof;
FIG. 6 is a left side view of the air conditioner as shown in FIG. 4 with some components shown in section and others broken away in order to show interna
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Bennett Henry
Carrier Corporation
Shulman Mark
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