Abstract:
The air conditioning system for cupboards for receiving control and automation systems as well as for the network technique, in particular for switch cupboards with a cooling device, is characterized in that warm air (WL) is sucked from the inside ( 22 ) of the switch cupboard ( 20 ) by means of a fan ( 31 ) and is supplied to one or at least two evaporators ( 35, 135 ), preferably placed in the surface plane of the fan ( 31 ), whereby cold air (KL) is conducted into the inside ( 22 ) of the switch cupboard ( 20 ), whereby a condenser ( 45 ) is placed below the evaporators ( 35, 135 ) in such a way that the evaporators ( 35, 135 ) come to rest with a section or with their front areas ( 35   a   , 135   a ) above the condenser ( 45 ) so that condensate delivered by the evaporators ( 35, 135 ) drops onto the condenser ( 45 ) and evaporates or volatilizes, whereby ambient air (UL) is delivered to the condenser ( 45 ), whereby the cold air delivery sections to the inside ( 22 ) of the switch cupboard ( 20 ) are constant in their lengths or changeable in length.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates to an air conditioning system for cupboards for receiving control and automation systems as well for the network technique, in particular for switch cupbards, with a cooling device.  
           [0002]    For components placed in a casing which produce waste heat correspondingly, it is necessary to dissipate the waste heat out of the casing and to control a temperature in the casing by more or less strong blowing-in of ambient air into the casing inner space by means of a ventilator. It is known that such casings are provided with a filter ventilator which either continuously runs or which is connected and disconnected by a control depending on a temperature in the casing. The filter ventilator is placed in a recess of a wall of the casing of the switch cupboard and fixed for example by means of a screwed connection. Simultaneously, corresponding air outlet slits are provided at another place of the housing for an air outlet.  
           [0003]    Furthermore, it is known to provide switch cupboards with cooling devices which are placed on the outside or in the inside of a switch cupboard. Sucked warm air is conducted by means of this cooling device from the inside of the switch cupboard over a cooling set and the thus produced cold air is conducted again into the inside of the switch cupboard.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    The aim of this invention is to create an air conditioning system with a cooling device according to the above mentioned type which can be used as a top or inside or socle air conditioning appliance, in particular in switch cupboards, whereby arising condensate is delivered to an evaporating device. Moreover, the cooling device should have the smallest dimensions and furthermore be adaptable to any switch cupboard width.  
           [0005]    This aim is achieved by an air conditioning system with the characteristics of claim 1 and the characteristics of claim 2.  
           [0006]    The air conditioning system according to the invention, in particular for switch cupboards, consists in that warm air is sucked from the inside of the switch cupboard by means of a fan and is supplied to one or several evaporators, preferably two, preferably in the surface plane of the fan, whereby cold air is conducted into the inside of the switch cupboard, whereby a condenser is placed below the evaporators in such a way that the evaporators come to rest with a section above the condenser so that condensate delivered by the evaporators drops onto the condenser and evaporates or volatilizes, whereby ambient air is delivered to the condenser, whereby the cold air delivery sections to the inside of the switch cupboard are changeable in length.  
           [0007]    The cooling device according to the invention for this air conditioning system consists of an upper carrier plate, of a lower carrier plate and of a box-shaped hood type covering housing covering both carrier plates. A fan, such as for example a radial ventilator, is placed on the upper carrier plate with a central or eccentric opening and an evaporator is placed respectively on each of the two sides of the fan at a distance from each other. The lower carrier plate is provided at the center or off-center with a supply muff running into the opening in the upper carrier plate and connected with the inside of the switch cupboard for the supply of the warm air from the inside of the switch cupboard to the two evaporators. Furthermore, the lower carrier plate carries a condenser, to which a condenser fan for example an axial condenser, is associated on the back wall provided on the lower carrier plate, whereby the condenser is placed transversely to the two evaporators. Moreover, ambient air is fed to the condenser by means of the condenser fan and is carried off from this condenser fan. The upper carrier plate is placed above the lower carrier plate in such a way that the two evaporators for the condensate evaporation come to lie with their two front areas above the condenser, whereby the upper carrier plate is dimensioned with respect to the lower carrier plate in such a way that the front areas of the two evaporators are situated above the condenser. The two superimposed carrier plates are covered by means of the hood-shaped covering casing and are resting with their bottom-sided edges on the lower carrier plate. For the supply of the cold air to the inside of the switch cupboard, air passage slits are provided in the walls of the hood-shaped covering casing turned to the two evaporators or in the lower carrier plate adjacent to the front sides of the condenser. Depending on the arrangement of the cooling device, the supply of the cold air into the inside of the switch cupboard can take place directly or over supplying ducts.  
           [0008]    Due to the arrangement and allocation of the two evaporators for evaporating in two different horizontal surface planes, not only a compact construction is obtained but also simultaneously for an evaporation of the arising condensate in that the condensate produced by the evaporators arrives directly onto the heated condenser, evaporates there or in case of high volume of condensate, there can be additionally a drainage of non evaporated condensate over an overflow or in a collecting cuvette. Since the cold air supply sections from the evaporators to the inside of the switch cupboard are changeable in length, an adaptation of the cooling device being used as a top appliance to different switch cupboard widths is possible. The technical configuration consists in that the cold air supply sections are configured as cap-shaped hoods which run into openings in the upper covering plate of the switch cupboard, whereby the cap type or hood type configured cold air supply ducts are changeable in length. The condensate discharge takes place from the evaporators situated above to the condenser, the condenser being irrigated with condensate. Due to the adaptation of the pressure ratio, a controlled condensate seal from the inner circuit is guaranteed and thus a minimization of the leakage flow from the ambience into the switch cupboard. Besides the use of the cooling device as a top appliance, the cooling device can also be placed in the inside of the switch cupboard. Then, the cooling device is preferably configured as a drawer-type subassembly so that it is possible to place one or several cooling devices in the inside of the switch cupboard, namely depending on the respective inside size, and namely at the places respectively desired between the individual components which are placed in the switch cupboard.  
           [0009]    Preferable configurations of the invention are the subject of the subclaims. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    The air conditioning system according to the invention will be explained below with reference to a cooling device represented in the attached drawings.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 shows a graphical view of the cooling device placed on a switch cupboard.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 shows a graphical view of the cooling device with the different airflows.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 shows a topview onto the cooling device.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 shows a graphical exploded representation of the cooling device with the evaporators and the carrier plates carrying the condensers.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 5 shows a graphical exploded representation of the cooling device from above.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 6 shows a graphical exploded representation of the cooling device with a lifted hood type covering casing in a lateral view.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 7 shows a graphical exploded representation of the cooling device with a lifted hood type covering casing in a back view.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIGS. 8A and 8B show graphical views of cooling devices placed on the top of switch cupboards with hood type cold air supply ducts in different sizes. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0019]    The air conditioning system according to the invention  10  comprises a cooling device  100  according to the configuration shown in FIGS. 1, 2,  3  and  4 . As FIG. 1 shows, the cooling device  100  is placed on the upper covering plate  21  of a switch cupboard  20 . The switch cupboard inside is indicated by  22 .  
         [0020]    The cooling device  100  consists of two carrier plates  30 ,  40  lying upon each other and placed at a distance from each other which are covered or encompassed by a hood shaped covering casing  50 . The hood shaped covering casing  50  has approximately the shape of a box and shows, according to a preferred embodiment according to FIGS. 4 and 5, two opposed side walls  51 ,  52  and a front wall  53  with an opening  53   a . On the top side, the hood shaped covering casing  50  is covered by means of an upper covering plate  54 . The hood shaped covering casing  50  rests on the lower carrier plate  40  with its bottom sided edges/borders  55 . Air passage slits  56 ,  56   a  are configured in the opposed side walls  51 ,  52  of the hood shaped covering casing  50 . The back wall of the hood shaped covering casing  50  is formed by a back wall  40   a  provided on the lower carrier plate  40  so that a closed box type casing is obtained which receives the cooling device  100 .  
         [0021]    The upper carrier plate  30  is provided with a central opening  32  which can also be placed off-center (FIGS. 1, 4 and  5 ). A fan  31 , such as for example a radial fan, is placed on the upper carrier plate  30  in the area of this opening  32 . An evaporator  35 ,  135  is placed respectively on both sides of the fan  31  at a distance from each other on the upper carrier plate  30 , the warm air WL being supplied from the inside  22  of the switch cupboard  20  by means of the fan  31 . The number of the evaporators  35 ,  135  placed on the upper carrier plate  30  is not limited to two evaporators. It is also possible to use only one single evaporator or to place several evaporators in groups on both sides of the fan  31  (FIG. 1). The air passage slits  56 ,  56   a  in the side walls  51 ,  52  of the hood shaped covering casing  50  are provided in the area of the two evaporators  35 ,  135  so that the cold air KL can directly come from the evaporators  35 ,  135  and pass through the air passage slits  56 ,  56   a  in order to be supplied to the inside  22  of the switch cupboard  20  (FIGS. 8A, 8B). The supply of the cold air KL from the two evaporators  35 ,  135  in the inside  22  of the switch cupboard  20  takes place over slit-shaped openings or apertures  21   a ,  21   b  provided in the upper covering plate  21  of the switch cupboard  20  (FIG. 1).  
         [0022]    The invention is described below as an embodiment with a cooling device  100  with two evaporators  35 ,  135 .  
         [0023]    The lower carrier plate  40  is provided at the center or off-center with an opening  42   a  into which a vertically directed supply muff  42  runs (FIGS. 4 and 5). This supply muff  42  runs with its free end into the opening  32  in the upper carrier plate  30  so that the inside  22  of the switch cupboard  20  is connected over the supply muff  42  with the inside which is limited or formed by the upper carrier plate  30  with its both evaporators  35 ,  135  so that the warm air WL is supplied into the suction area of the evaporator fan  31  and over this fan to the two evaporators  35 ,  135 . The warm air WL from the inside  22  of the switch cupboard  20  is sucked by means of the fan  31  and supplied to the two evaporators  35 ,  135 .  
         [0024]    Moreover, the lower carrier plate  40  carries a condenser  45  which is connected with a condenser fan  31  which is configured for example as an axial fan so that ambient air UL is supplied to the condenser  45  by means of the condenser fan  41  and is carried off again from this condenser fan. The flow of the ambient air UL supplied to the condenser  45  is indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2 with arrows. The condenser fan  41  is placed in the back wall  40   a  of the lower carrier plate  40  (FIG. 4). Thus, it is possible to suck ambient air UL from behind or to blow it off to the back side (condenser circuit).  
         [0025]    The condenser  45  on the lower carrier plate  40  is placed transversely to the two evaporators  35 ,  135  on the upper carrier plate.  
         [0026]    As FIGS. 4 and 5 in particular show, the upper carrier plate  30  is placed above the lower carrier plate  40  in such a way that the two evaporators  35 ,  135  for the condensate evaporation come to rest with their two front areas  35   a ,  135   a  above the condenser  45 . The upper carrier plate  30  is preferably dimensioned with respect to the lower carrier plate  40  in such a way that the front areas  35   a ,  135   a  of the two evaporators  35 ,  135  rest above the condenser  45  (FIGS. 2 and 3).  
         [0027]    The supply of the cold air KL from the two evaporators  35 ,  135  to the inside  22  of the switch cupboard  20  takes place, for the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, over air passage slits  56 ,  56   a  in the walls  51 ,  52  of the hood shaped covering casing  50  turned to the two evaporators  35 ,  135 .  
         [0028]    A further embodiment according to FIG. 4 provides that the cold air KL is fed to the inside  22  of the switch cupboard  20  over air passage slits  46 ,  46   a  provided in the lower carrier plate  40  in the vicinity of the front areas  45   a ,  45   b  of the condenser  45 . The configuration of the air passage slits  46 ,  46   a  in the lower carrier plate  40  is so that the condenser  45  has a small length with respect to the length of the lower carrier plate  40  so that plate sections are constituted in which the air passage slits  46 ,  46   a  can be provided. As FIG. 4 shows, lateral walls  47 ,  47   a  are provided in the area of the air passage slits  46 ,  46   a  on the lower carrier plate  40 , these walls constituting with the condenser  45  placed in the front area an inner space which is covered by the upper carrier plate  30  placed on the lower carrier plate. The cooling device  100  is then placed on the upper covering plate  21  of the switch cupboard  20  in such a way that the air passage slits  56 ,  56   a  in the lower carrier plate  40  correspond with corresponding openings or apertures  21   a ,  21   b  in the upper covering plate  21  of the switch cupboard  20 .  
         [0029]    The hood shaped covering casing  50  laps over the two superimposed carrier plates  30 ,  40  in such a way that the opening  53   a  in the front wall  53  of the hood shaped covering casing  50  lies in the area of the condenser  45  so that ambient air UL can be supplied to the condenser  45  (FIG. 6).  
         [0030]    Preferably, approximately the same pressure ratio is maintained in the chamber  130  formed by the upper carrier plate  30  and the chamber  140  formed by the lower carrier plate  40 . This takes place over the appropriate control of the fan  31  and of the condenser fan  41 . According to a further configuration, a condensate collecting cuvette with a channel, which is not represented in the drawing, is provided on the bottom of the condenser  45 . The condensate of the two evaporators  35 ,  135  is collected and directed to the front onto the condenser  45  where it can evaporate. An adaptation of the pressure ratio in the evaporator and condenser space takes place.  
         [0031]    The chamber  130  on the upper carrier plate  30  is formed by the two evaporators  35 ,  135 , the upper section  53   b , the front wall  53  of the hood shaped covering casing  50  and a back wall  30   b  placed at the back on the carrier plate  30 . The chamber  140  on the lower carrier plate  40  is formed by the front condenser  45 , the lateral side walls  47 ,  47   a  connected with the carrier plate  40  and the carrier plate back wall  40   a  or an intermediate wall  40   b  (FIGS. 4 and 6), whereas the carrier plate back wall  40   a  extends over both chambers  130 ,  140 , i.e. the height of the carrier plate back wall  40   a  corresponds to the height of the two superimposed chambers  130 ,  140 .  
         [0032]    The cooling device  100  is configured as a top appliance  100   a , as represented in FIGS. 1, 8 a  and  8   b , whereby the upper covering plate  21  of the switch cupboard  20  is provided with a corresponding number of openings for the connection of the warm air supply muffs  42  and for the cold air supply to the inside  22  of the switch cupboard  20 .  
         [0033]    As FIGS. 8 a  and  8   b  show, the openings or air passage slits  56 ,  56   a  for the cold air KL provided in the opposed side walls  51 ,  52  of the hood shaped covering casing  50  for the two carrier plates  30 ,  40  are provided with lateral cap shaped cold air supply ducts  60 ,  60   a  placed on the covering casing  50  which have, at their ends, U-bent duct sections  60   a ,  61   a  which run into openings in the upper covering plate  21  of the switch cupboard. These cold air supply ducts  60 ,  61  are configured changeable in length so that an adaptation to any switch cupboard width is possible.  
         [0034]    According to the invention and with reference to FIG. 4, the air conditioning system in connection with the cooling device  100  is configured in such a way that warm air WL is sucked from the inside  22  of the switch cupboard  20  by means of the fan  31  and is supplied to at least two evaporators  35 ,  135 , preferably lying in the surface plane of the fan  31 . Cold air KL is directed by these evaporators  35 ,  135  into the inside  22  of the switch cupboard  20 . The condenser  45  is placed below the evaporators  35 ,  135  in such a way that the evaporators  35 ,  135  come to rest with a section or with their front areas  35   a ,  135   a  above the condenser so that condensate K delivered by the evaporators  35 ,  135  drops onto the condenser  45  and evaporates or volatilizes. Ambient air UL is supplied to the condenser  45 , whereby the cold air supply ducts to the inside  22  of the switch cupboard  20  are changeable in length. The conduction of the warm air WL, of the cold air KL, of the ambient air UL and of the condensate K is indicated by arrows FIG. 4.  
         [0035]    The air conditioning system according to the invention with its cooling device  100  can be used everywhere where the heat is carried off from an inside space in which heat is produced by components and where cold air must be supplied.  
         [0036]    The cooling device  100  is placed in the inside of the switch cupboard  20 , can be used as a top appliance on a switch cupboard, as a rack appliance in the inside of a switch cupboard  20  and as a socle appliance; preferably, the cooling device  100  has a flat construction.