Air conditioner

Aug. 13, 1935.

D. L. BRAINE

AIR CONDITIONER

Filed Dec. 30, 1S33

2,010,809

Sheets-Sheet 1

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Aug. 13, 1935. d. l. braine 2,010,809

AIR CONDITIONER

Filed Dec. 30, 1333 3 Sheets-Sheet 2

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ATTORNEYS

Aug. 13, 1935

D. L. BRAINE

2,010,809

AIR CONDITIONER

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INVENTOR

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ATTORNEYS

Patented Aug. 13, 1935

2,010,809

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

ΜΙΙΛί AIB CONDITIONER Daniel L. Braine, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application December 39, 1933. SeriaUNo. 704,722 dates.

My invention relates to air conditioners and particularly to an air conditioner that may be set into a window opening.

The present application is a continuation in 5 part of co-pending application Serial No. 663,932 filed April 1, 1933.

Objects of my invention are to provide an air conditioner by which air may be drawn from outside a building, filtered, mixed in selected pro10 portion with air from the interior of the building and distributed into a room or building in a selected path; to provide an air conditioner that may be set into a window opening; to provide a maximum conditioning effect for a minimum 15 opening of the window, and to provide a conditioner having few parts and that may be easily removed, taken apart and re-assembled.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description.

The various features of tihe Invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which— Fig. 1 is a vertical elevation of an air conditioner embodying a preferred form of the invention taken from the interior side of the air condi25 tioner.

Fig. 2 is a vertical elevation taken from the opposite or outside of the air conditioner.

Fig. 3 is a side view showing the position of the air conditioner in a window opening, the window 30 and sill being shown in broken lines.

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the filtering device.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the air conditioner taken on line 5—5 of Fig. 1 and on a somewhat 35 larger scale.

Fig. 6 is a vertical section of a part of the air conditioner taken on line 6—6 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view of the air conditioner taken on line Ί—Ί of Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a sectional detail view of a part of the air conditioner taken on line ·—8 of Fig. 7, and

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a shut-off or control curtain forming impart of the air conditioner.

In my invention the air conditioner is provided 4 5 with a removable filter through which the outside air is drawn by means of a fan, and with dampers which admit air from the interior to mix with the filtered outside air and then to be distributed by the fan to the interior of the room. The amount 50 of outside air drawn through the apparatus is controlled by means of a shut-off curtain actuated by the dampers so as to restrict the inflow of outside air progressively as the dampers are opened.

The entire apparatus is mounted in a casing or (0.98—94) chamber that is low and wide so as to fit within a window opening and having a groove into which the lower end of the window sash fits and holds the apparatus as described in co-pending application Serial No. 663,932. 5

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawings, the air conditioner is contained within a chamber 10 having at its outer side a number of openings I i sheltered by over-hanging fixed louvre plates 12, the size and number of 10 the openings being so. selected as to provide a uniform distribution of air throughout the width and heighth of the chamber. A vertical filter 13 of glass, wool or other fibrous material coated with a sticky material such as petrolatum, is supported 15 between guiding grooves 14 and 15 in the top and bottom of the chamber and so placed that the air admitted through the openings 1 ί passes transversely through the filter toward the front or interior side of the chamber. After passing 20 through the filter 13, the air is drawn by means of a fan 16, Figs. 1 and 6, mounted on the inner surface of the front wall 18 of a front or interior member 19, the fan 16 directing the air through an outlet opening 20 in the wall 18. The wall 18 25 is also provided with a pair of inlet dampers 21, one on each side of the fan 16 and outlet opening 21, and tiltable about a horizontal axis 21' to open and close suitable inlet openings in the wall 18.

Air from the interior of the room to be con- 30 ditioned may be drawn through the damper openings by the suction created by the fan 16 and, mixing with the outer air, is returned by the fan 16 into the interior of the room. The front or room side of the chamber 10 is provided with a 35 receiving groove 22 to receive the upper edge of the wall 18 and the upper edge of the latter is rounded as at 23 to fit the groove 22 and permit a swinging motion relative thereto.

The member t*9 is supported against the groove 40 22 and sealed in the chamber 10 by means of a sealing strip 24 of rubber or other flexible resilient material set into a recess 25 in the bottom and side walls of the chamber 10 and pressing resiliently against a bottom wall 26 and side 45 walls 27 of the member 19 so as to form an air tight seal around the bottom and side walls of the member 19, while permitting the latter to swing freely about the groove 22. This arrangement also provides against vibration and noise. 50 The swinging movement of the member 19 is limited by pins 30, one projecting from each of the side walls of the box |0 to contact with the rear edge of the side walls 27 when the member 19 is swung backwardly into the box 10, and to contact 55

2,010,809 with a hook 31 extending from the edge of the side wall 27 to engage the pin 30 when the member 19 is drawn forwardly or outwardly of the box 10. By removing the pins 30 the member 6 19 may be drawn forwardly until its rear edge clears the front edge of the box 10 and then it may be lowered to free the upper edge 23 from the groove 22. The interior of the box 10 is then freely open for inspection or repair apd the 10 rear of the front member (9 is also open for inspection and repair.

As the member 19 is tilted about the edge 23, the fan 16 is correspondingly tilted and the current of air propelled by the fan normal to the 15 front face of the member 19 is tilted, upwardly to a greater or less angle with the tilting of the member 19. The air propelled by the fan 16 may consist entirely of air drawn from the room for recirculation therein, or may be air drawn entire20 ly from the outer atmosphere through the filter ’ 13, or may be mixtures of air from these two sources in any desited proportion. When the dampers 21 are closed, all of the air supplied by the fan 16 will enter through the inlets ii, pass 25 through the filter 13 into the interior of the box 10 and then be propelled by the fan 16. When it is desired to recirculate only the air within the room without an admixture of air drawn through the filter 13, the dampers 21 are opened wide until 30 they.reach a horizontal position.' In moving to this position the dampers serve, through a link 32 connected at one end to the lower part of the dampers, to swing the scoop 33 having supporting arms 34 connected to the link 32 and pivoted 35 at their upper ends on pivot pins 35 on the side walls 27 of the member 19. A flexible curtain 36 is secured at its front edge to the front edge of the scoop 33 and at its rear end to a plate. 37 engaged and held in the groove ί 5 beneath the lower 40 edge of the filter 13 so that when the dampers 21 are swung to horizontal position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5, the curtain 36 is stretched upwardly from the plate 37 at the lower edge of the filter 13 and forms, with the scoop 33, a bar45 rier to the passage of air forwardly from the filter 13.

It will be understood, of course, that the curtain 36 together with the scoop 33 may not necessarily form an air tight closure with the side and top 5θ walls of the box 10, but will form a substantial obstacle to any considerable passage of outside air to the fan 16. The curtain 36 may be formed of any suitable material such as canvas or other fabric or, if desired, of flexible metal construction 55 or of flexible composition material.

When the damper 21 is moved to closed position, the scoop 33 is drawn forwardly by the link 32 until it overlies the lower wall 26 of the member 19, the front part of the curtain being drawn βθ between the lower edge of the scoop 33 and the upper face of the wall 26 so as to form a fluid tight closure. In this position the curtain 36 will lie substantially flat along the lower wall of the box 10, giving the widest path for the passage of air 65 from the filter 13 to the fan 16. It will be understood that the curtain 36 need not lie tightly against the lower wall of the box 10 although, preferably, it will take this position when the member 19 is tilted outwardly to its maximum 70 position. When tilted backwardly or intojthe box 10, the curtain 36 will bulge upwardly slightly, as indicated in Fig. 5, but this will not form any substantial obstacle to the passage of air.

The connection between the link 32 and the 75 arms 34 is by means of pins 38, one on each arm

34, passing through a,slot 39 on the link 32 so that the damper 21 may be swung from closed to vertical, position, indicated in broken lines in Fig. 5, before the front edge of the slot 39 engages the pin to tilt the scoop. This enables the S damper 21 to be opened somewhat without closing the curtain. Further opening of the damper 21 serves to proportionately close the curtain and proportion the inside and outside recirculating air. _i0

The filters 13 are preferably of a replaceable type and are inserted through an opening in the side wall of the box SO, which opening is provided with a door or cover 40 shown in Fig. 4. This door is formed of a solid plate or sheet of 15 metal and has vertical flanges 41 to fit into vertical grooves at each side of the filter opening, and a top flange 42 fitting into a top groove in the box. This provides a substantially air tight closure. When the filter 13 is removed from the 20 box 10 the curtain holding plate 37 is freed and may be removed with the curtain when the front member 19 is removed.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, the box 10 may be held on a window sill 43 by the engagement of a win- 25 dow 44 in a receiving groove 45 (Fig. 5) in the upper or top wall of the box 10. An adjustable foot 46 is provided to support the box on a window sill of any shape or pitch. Adjustable or replaceable side members 47 are also provided on the 30 box 10 to enable it to fit windows of different widths.

It will be noted that the box 10 and the member 19 are of about the width of the window sill and that the lower edge of the sash fits into the 35 narrowest part of the box 10 so that all of the window opening area is free and available for the passage of air, while the box 10 may extend upwardly to the upper edge of the frame portion of the window giving a maximum area of flow ₄₀through the filter 13 without obstructing any of the light area of the window.

It will be understood that the fan 16 will be preferably of a noiseless type mounted on the front wall of the member 19 by any suitable ₄₅means such as the arms 48 (Fig. 6). The fan may be operated and controlled through an electric switch 49 mounted on the front wall of the member 19.

Through the above invention, therefore, an air _soconditioner is provided that may be readily placed in the opening of a window without obstructing the light, and this air conditioner effectively purifies incoming air and tempers it with recirculating air in any desired proportion. The various ele- ₆₅ments of the invention are simple in construction and may be readily taken apart so as to give access to the interior of the apparatus for replacement or repair.