Abstract:
An integrated exterior inlet/exhaust port for providing two air channels through a wall while only requiring a single hole through the wall.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to an integrated exterior inlet/exhaust port for use with a ventilation system.  
           [0002]    Modern buildings quite often are tightly sealed and insulated to facilitate air handling (i.e. heating and cooling) and to prevent unwanted elements, such as dust and pollution from entering. While the insulation of buildings provides a lot of benefits, it can also unfortunately prevents fresh air from entering an enclosed building and exhausted air from leaving the building.  
           [0003]    As a result more and more modem buildings are being outfitted with air treatment units which can introduce outside air into the building, provide purification of the air, or a combination of both.  
           [0004]    In the case of air treatment units which introduce outside air into the building, certain difficulties may arise with relation to the exterior inlet and outlet ports of the air treatment unit. These difficulties arise from the fact that to allow entry of air into the air treatment unit it is necessary to create a hole in the insulation of the building. The insulation of the building thus becomes less efficient.  
           [0005]    Unfortunately, there is so far no way of allowing outside air to enter the air treatment unit without allowing a channel to the outside. In fact, most air treatment units require two separate channels to the outside, one through which exhausted air from the inside is released outside, and one through which fresh air from the outside is drawn into the air treatment unit. As a result, it becomes necessary to have two holes in the insulation of the building, thereby making the insulation even weaker.  
           [0006]    Furthermore, installation may also become more complex, especially in the case where holes need to be made in a building that has walls constructed from a very hard substance (e.g. bricks or concrete). If a building is made from a very hard substance then the time taken to create a hole might be substantial, and would further require specialised equipment. Thus, installation would be simplified if only a single hole needed to be made in the wall rather than two.  
           [0007]    It would therefore be beneficial to have an integrated exterior inlet/exhaust port which would only take up as much space as a typical duct, and which would allow the exhausting of air from the inside of the building, and at the same time allow fresh air to be drawn into the building from the outside.  
           [0008]    A problem with this type of duct would be that most air treatment units are designed to use two separate ducts, it would therefore be difficult to fit an integrated exterior inlet/exhaust port to a typical air treatment unit.  
           [0009]    Furthermore, due to the close proximity of the inlet duct and the exhaust duct which is necessary for an integrated exterior inlet/exhaust port, there is the danger of short-circuiting the air flow. In this case the inlet duct would draw in the air exhausted from the exhaust duct, instead of drawing fresh air from the outside.  
           [0010]    It is therefore apparent that an integrated exterior inlet/exhaust port which can easily be connected to existing air treatment units, and which prevents short-circuiting of the inlet and the exhaust air flow is desirable.  
         STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION  
         [0011]    In accordance with one aspect the invention provides a dual opening air communication unit comprising:  
           [0012]    a shell component;  
           [0013]    a first channel component formed in said shell component for communicating a first air stream between a first air channel and an outside; and  
           [0014]    an second channel component formed in said shell component for communicating a second air stream between a second air channel and said outside;  
           [0015]    said first channel component and said second channel component being formed such that said first air stream and said second air stream are transverse to each other.  
           [0016]    In accordance with a more particular aspect said first air stream may be an exhaust air stream, and wherein said second air stream may be a fresh air stream.  
           [0017]    In accordance with a more particular aspect the invention may further comprise a component for varying the speed of the air in dual opening air communication unit, adapted such that said exhaust air stream may have a higher speed than said fresh air stream.  
           [0018]    In accordance with a further aspect the invention provides a ventilation duct comprising:  
           [0019]    a first channel component;  
           [0020]    a second channel component; and  
           [0021]    adapter component for connecting said first channel component and said second channel component to separate ducts;  
           [0022]    said first channel component and second channel component being disposed such that a flow of a gas passing through one channel will not be able to pass to the other channel.  
           [0023]    In accordance with a more particular aspect said first channel component and second channel component may share a common wall. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0024]    [0024]FIG. 1 shows an exploded perspective view of an integrated exterior inlet/exhaust port according to the present invention.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 2 shows an exploded side elevation view of the integrated exterior inlet/exhaust port shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 3 shows a cross section of the integrated exterior inlet/exhaust port shows in FIG. 1, which has been installed in a wall of a building.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 4 shows a front view of the integrated exterior inlet/exhaust port shown in FIG. 1, with a grill removed.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 5 shows a back elevation view of a back plate as shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 6 shows a front elevation view of the back plate shown in FIG. 5.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 7 shows a rear elevation view of an integrated exterior inlet/exhaust port shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 8 shows a side view of a grill for the integrated exterior inlet/exhaust port shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 9 shows a side view of a pair of baffles to be used with a grill according to one embodiment of the invention.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 10 shows a perspective view of an air inlet or exhaust port according to previous systems. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0034]    [0034]FIGS. 1 and 2 show exploded views of an integrated exterior inlet/exhaust port according to the present invention. As can be seen in the FIGS. 1 and 2 the invention in this embodiment comprises three main components. These components are adapter duct  10 , backplate  20 , and port  30 .  
         [0035]    Additionally, the integrated exterior inlet/exhaust port may be provided with insulation so as to prevent the creation of cold spots in the interior of the building.  
         [0036]    It can be noted that while the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, comprises separate adapter duct  10 , backplate  20 , and port  30  another embodiment in which one or more of the elements are formed integral can easily be imagined.  
         [0037]    The adapter duct  10  is made up of two separate air passages  12  and  14  which at one end separate into an y-shape which forms two distinct ducts  16  and  18 . At the other end the two air passages combine and form a single duct.  
         [0038]    The adapter duct  10  is designed to be connected to the port  30  via the backplate  20 . The backplate  20  has a continuous snap groove  22  which can be matingly connected to the single duct end of the adapter duct  10 . The connection of the continuous snap groove  22  and the adapter duct  10 , is designed so as to be air and water tight. Additional fastening means  24  (e.g. screws) may be employed to ensure that the adapter duct remains fastened to the backplate  20 . The backplate  20  also has fastening means  26  for fastening the backplate  20  to the port  30 , and fastening means  28  for fastening the inlet/outlet port to the wall of the building.  
         [0039]    Port  30 , as can be seen in FIG. 3, comprises a shell component  31  which is split into a first channel component  32  and a second channel component  34 , which connect to the air passages  12  and  14  of the adapter duct  10  respectively. The first channel component  32  is covered by a grill  36  through which air may pass. Additionally, the first channel component  32  may have a downwardly angled floor  33  such that any accumulation of water or other liquids will automatically be drained from the chamber. The first channel component  32  may also be provided with some drain holes in case of an abnormal water condition.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 3 also shows the integrated exterior inlet/exhaust port in function. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, an air treatment unit (not shown) is connected to the adapter duct  10  by connecting an exhaust duct and an inlet duct to the ducts  16  and  18  respectively. Thus exhaust air is exhausted through passage  12  and first channel component  32 , and fresh air is drawn in through passage  14  and second channel component  34 .  
         [0041]    A first arrow set  40  shows the flow of exhaust air exiting the integrated exterior inlet/exhaust port, and a second arrow set  42  shows the flow of air entering the integrated exterior inlet/exhaust port. As can be seen from the arrow sets  40  and  42  the entering and exiting air flows are physically separate, and are also transverse to each other. That is there is an angle between the directions of the exiting air and the entering air. The physical separation and the different directions both work to reduce the risk of short circuiting the air flows.  
         [0042]    Another benefit of the air flow arrangement shown in FIG. 3 is that the exhaust air flow will act as a shield for the inlet air flow, in that the exhaust air flow will blow away any particles (e.g. snow or dirt) which fall near the integrated exterior inlet/exhaust port. Thus, accumulation of these particles which could cause a blockage of the inlet port, is prevented.  
         [0043]    In another embodiment, the air passage  12  may be reduced in circumference compared to air passage  14 , such that the speed of the air travelling though air passage  12  would be increased compared to the air travelling trough air passage  14 . This would be beneficial since increasing the speed of the exhaust air flow in relation to the speed of the intake air flow would also reduce the risk of the air flows being short circuited, and the intake air flow being contaminated by the exhaust air flow.  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 4 shows a front view of the integrated exterior inlet/exhaust port. In this view the grill  36  has been removed so that the first channel component  32  can be clearly seen. As can be seen the upper section  32  may have a funnel like shape, with the first channel component  32  expanding outwards.  
         [0045]    [0045]FIGS. 5 and 6 show the front and back of the backplate  20 . As can be seen the snap groove  22  has been divided in two such that the air passages  12  and  14  (see FIG. 2) do not cross.  
         [0046]    [0046]FIG. 7 shows a rear view of the integrated exterior inlet/exhaust port. The two distinct ducts  16  and  18 , and the air passages  12  and  14  can be clearly seen. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the two distinct ducts  16  and  18  may be given a lateral offset with respect to each other, such that the two distinct ducts  16  and  18  can more easily be fitted between the joists of the building, thereby providing a compact installation.  
         [0047]    Furthermore, the distance between the distinct ducts  16  and  18  is preferably large enough that insulation may be inserted around the distinct ducts  16  and  18  and the ducts which are attached to them.  
         [0048]    [0048]FIG. 7 also shows the transition sections  60  and  62  of the distinct ducts  16  and  18 , where the two distinct ducts  16  and  18  join together to from a single tube. As can be seen from the diagram the transition sections  60  and  62  may be smoothed so as to reduce friction between the air and the walls of the ducts  16  and  18 . This allows for a reduction of turbulence within the ducts.  
         [0049]    [0049]FIG. 8 shows a side view of the grill  36  shown in FIG. 1. As can be seen the grill  36  comprises a series of baffles  50 . The baffles  50  may have an S-shape as shown in FIG. 9 or have a chevron shape as shown in FIG. 8, such that rain, snow, etc. which falls on the grill will automatically drain, and not be able to enter the port and cause a blockage.  
         [0050]    Turning now to FIG. 10, we can see an example of an exterior inlet or outlet port as used with prior air treatment units.  
         [0051]    It should be noted that while the above embodiments of the invention have been described with relation to an integrated exterior inlet/exhaust port, the invention may easily be used as an integrated exterior inlet/inlet port, or an integrated exterior exhaust/exhaust port.