Patent ID: 9234603
Filing Date: 2016-01-12
CPC Classification: F16K,F24F

Claim Text:
1. An air damper that provides a good seal with low torque requirements comprising: an air damper frame, said frame having two sides located opposite to each other on the frame, a plurality of parallel damper blades rotatable mounted within the frame with the blades surrounded by and supported by the frame, said blades rotate in unison and are designed to block air flow through the frame when the blades are closed by aligning the blades along a single vertical axis and designed to permit air flow through the frame when the blades are opened by the blades not being aligned along the single vertical axis, a front face of each blade being a flat front plane, a square configuration blade tip seal provided on one edge of each damper blade, said blade tip seals being square in cross sectional configuration to allow the blade tip seals to engage edges of adjacent blades before the blades are fully closed, the flat front planes of the blades and the blade tip seals create a continuously flat front plane when the blades are closed, and a side seal mechanism engaging the continuously flat front plane at each of the two sides of the frame, said side seal cooperates with and positively seals between the continuously flat front plane and the frame when the blades are closed even when the ends of the blades are not cut precisely square, the ends are not cut to the same lengths, or the ends are not cut to a tight tolerance between the blade ends and the frame, wherein the side seal mechanism further comprises: separate rotatable discs secured to each end of each blade so that the discs hold their associated blade ends within the frame and rotate with the blades, said rotatable discs engaging L-shaped side seals located on each side of the damper when the blades are open to force the L-shaped side seals away from the blades, a first stationary leg of each L-shaped side seal sealing between the discs and the frame, and an opposite second flexible lea of each L-shaped side seal sealing against the continuously flat front plane formed from the blades and the blade tip seals when the blades are closed.